


Warriors Wind and Fire AU - Into The Wild

by Wind_and_Fire_Warriors_AU



Series: Wind and Fire AU [1]
Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: LGBT Cats (Warriors), LGBTQ Character, OCs are not as important in story, Original Clans (Warriors), Other, Rewrite, They are made because there are so few chars in WindClan at first, ThunderClan (Warriors), Warriors AU, Warriors AU Rewrite, Wind and Fire AU, WindClan (Warriors), WindClan AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2020-03-13 18:59:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 58,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18946915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wind_and_Fire_Warriors_AU/pseuds/Wind_and_Fire_Warriors_AU
Summary: Rusty has always longed to know what lay beyond the four walls of his house. He had seen the forest beyond the tall fence of his garden, but he had never felt an urge to go there. Rather, he wanted to run freely in large, open moors, letting the wind guide his paws... just like his dreams...After ending up in WindClan territory, home to one of the four Clans of cats, Rusty ends up joining them and even manages to fit in just fine. But  he ends up learning that Clan life is not easy, with constant threats hanging over them at any moment And it seems as if the first major one Rusty will have to face is hiding in the shadows, waiting to strike...AU Made by Eazbeaz and GalacticGale





	1. Prologue/Other Information

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to this AU!  
> At a basic level, it is about Rusty going to WindClan instead of ThunderClan. We hope to flesh out the original book WindClan characters, as well as make Firepaw into a more interesting character.  
> As for ships, I will not comment quite yet. We will have minor relationships, both LGBT and straight from canon. As for major ships, I will not comment yet.  
> There are OCs, which we didn't really want to make, but found it unavoidable due to the tiny amount of characters in the earlier books. The OCs will not be focused on, as this is mainly for focusing on the canon characters, and giving them fleshed out personalities.  
> We hope you enjoy this as much as we did writing this!  
> \- Eazbeaz

**ALLEGIANCES**

****

###  **WINDCLAN**

****

**Leader:** Tallstar—a black-and-white tom with a very long tail.

**Deputy:** Deadfoot—a black tom with a twisted paw.

Apprentice, Onepaw

**Medicine cat(s):** Barkface—a short-tailed brown tom.

**Warriors:**

Mudclaw—a mottled dark brown tom.

Apprentice, Webpaw

Tornear—a tabby tom.

Apprentice, Runningpaw

Maplespring—a tortoiseshell molly with green eyes.

Willowspot—a pale grey molly with yellow eyes.

**Apprentices:**

Onepaw—a young brown tabby tom.

Webpaw—a dark grey tabby tom with amber eyes.

Runningpaw—a light grey tabby molly with green eyes

**Queens:**

Ashfoot—a grey queen.

Morningflower—a tortoiseshell queen.

Eaglekit—a grey tom.

Whitekit—a small white molly with green eyes.

**Elders:**

Spiderdapple—a silver tom with black dapples and green eyes.

Fallowhawk—a light brown molly with blue eyes.

****

###  RIVERCLAN

****

**Leader:** Crookedstar—huge light-colored tabby with a twisted jaw.

**Deputy:** Oakheart—a reddish brown tom.

**Medicine cat(s):** Mudfur—long-haired light brown tom.

**Warriors:**

Leopardfur—unusually spotted golden tabby molly.

Blackclaw—smoky black tom.

Apprentice, Heavypaw

Stonefur—grey tom with battle-scarred ears.

Apprentice, Shadepaw

Loudbelly—dark brown tom.

Apprentice, Silverpaw

**Apprentices:**

Heavypaw—a brown tabby tom with green eyes.

Shadepaw—a dark grey molly.

Silverpaw—pretty silver tabby.

**Queens:**

Mistyfoot—dark grey molly.

Mosspelt—a tortoiseshell and white molly with blue eyes.

**Elders:**

Greypool—thin grey molly with patchy fur and a scarred muzzle

****

###  SHADOWCLAN

****

**Leader** : Raggedstar—dark brown tabby tom with ragged fur.

**Deputy** : Brokentail—dark brown tabby tom with a bent tail and orange eyes

**Medicine cat(s):** Runningnose—small grey-and-white tom.

**Warriors:**

Blackfoot—a large white tom with huge jet black paws.

Stumpytail—brown tabby tom.

Apprentice, Brownpaw

Boulder—silver tabby tom.

Apprentice, Wetpaw

Clawface—battle-scarred brown tom.

Apprentice, Littlepaw

Nightpelt—black tom.

**Apprentices:**

Brownpaw—a brown tom with yellow eyes.

Wetpaw—a grey tabby tom.

Littlepaw—a small brown tabby tom with blue eyes.

**Queens** : 

Tallpoppy—a light brown tabby molly.

Dawncloud—small tabby.

Brightflower—black-and-white molly.

**Elders:**

Ashfur—thin grey tom

****

###  THUNDERCLAN

****

**Leader:** Bluestar—blue-grey molly, tinged with silver around her muzzle.

**Deputy:** Redtail—small tortoiseshell tom with a distinctive ginger tail.

Apprentice, Dustpaw

**Medicine cat(s):** Spottedleaf—beautiful dark tortoiseshell molly with a distinctive dappled coat.

**Warriors:**

Lionheart—magnificent golden tabby tom with thick fur like a lion's mane.

Apprentice, Greypaw

Tigerclaw—big dark brown tabby tom with unusually long front claws.

Apprentice, Ravenpaw

Whitestorm—big white tom.

Apprentice, Sandpaw

Darkstripe—sleek black-and-grey tabby tom.

Longtail—pale tabby tom with dark black stripes.

Runningwind—swift tabby tom.

Willowpelt—very pale grey molly with unusual blue eyes.

Mousefur—small dusky brown molly.

**Apprentices:**

Dustpaw—dark brown tabby tom.

Greypaw—long-haired solid grey tom.

Ravenpaw—small, skinny black tom with a tiny white dash on his chest, and white-tipped tail

Sandpaw—pale ginger molly.

**Queens:**

Frostfur—beautiful white coat and blue eyes.

Brindleface—pretty tabby.

Goldenflower—pale ginger coat.

Speckletail—pale tabby, and the oldest nursery queen.

**Elders:**

Halftail—big dark brown tabby tom with part of his tail missing.

Smallear—grey tom with very small ears. The oldest tom in ThunderClan.

Patchpelt—small black-and-white tom.

One-eye—pale grey molly, the oldest cat in ThunderClan. Virtually blind and deaf.

Dappletail—once-pretty tortoiseshell molly with a lovely dappled coat.

****

###  CATS OUTSIDE OF CLANS

****

Rusty—a flame colored tom with bright green eyes. Kittypet.

Smudge—a plump black and white tom. Kittypet.

Barley—black and white tom. Lives on a farm near the edge of WindClan territory.

Yellowfang—old dark grey molly with a broad, flattened face. Formerly ShadowClan's medicine cat.

THE WARRIOR CODE:

****

  1. Always be ready to protect and defend your Clan, even with your life. Friendships with cats from other Clans are allowed, but you must remain loyal to your own Clan.
  2. Hunting or trespassing on another Clan's territory is strictly forbidden.
  3. Elders, queens, and kits are always fed before apprentices and warriors. Unless permitted, apprentices cannot eat until they have hunted. If a warrior or apprentice is sick, injured, or both, they may eat while the elders, queens, and kits are eating.
  4. Prey is hunted and killed to be eaten, not for sport. Give thanks to StarClan for its life.
  5. The minimum age for a kit to begin apprenticeship is six moons old. Anything under that is strictly forbidden.
  6. Newly appointed warriors must keep a silent vigil and guard the camp for one night after receiving their warrior name.
  7. Deputies must have mentored at least one apprentice or more in order to be qualified for their position.
  8. The Clan's deputy will become the new leader when the old leader dies, retires, or is exiled. 
  9. After the death, retirement, promotion (to a leader status), or exile of the deputy, the new deputy must be chosen before moonhigh.
  10. A Gathering of all four Clans is held at the full moon at Fourtrees. During this time, there is a truce that lasts for one night. There shall be no fighting or other serious conflicts among the Clans at this time.
  11. Boundaries must be checked, patrolled near, and marked daily. All trespassing or close to trespassing cats that are not medicine cats must be challenged or told off unless they state they have arrived for business. (i.e. needing to see the Clan leader)
  12. No cat can ever neglect a kit in pain or danger, even if the kit is from a different Clan or is a rogue, loner, or kittypet.
  13. The word of the Clan leader is the warrior code unless they go against the warrior code or their word is extremely harmful.
  14. Warriors do not need to kill in order to win their battles.
  15. A cat in any Clan rejects the soft life of a kittypet.



#  PROLOGUE

****

Soft, soft darkness. Wrapped in the cocoon of it. It was almost beyond understanding- being in such a state of blank emptiness, and being so unaware of it. Yet it was still so ordinary. We all sleep, and are wrapped in that familiar yet unnameable emptiness. But it doesn’t last. It cannot.

Suddenly being torn from this comfortable, black, empty state into an area that brought with it both great hope as well as great distress. Where while there were lights, they were too bright. And while there was a pleasant smell, it was too strong. Everything was good, but too much. Dizziness, nervousness, the feeling of needing to vomit, it all came with it. 

But then it got worse- and then better- and worse again?

Whispers, countless whispers, but still seemingly coming from one distinct voice. Sounding like they were both from afar as well as from a close range. It was all too much. It all made one want to just  _ give up _ on the nothing that they were trying to accomplish. 

But then, something nicer, 

_ “You’ll be okay…”  _ Soft, but distinguishable. Three words, but still so much better than the countless, almost demeaning whispers from earlier.

But then this same line was repeated. Over and over. Overlapping, talking all at once, everything being said at once and making the briefly more comfortable atmosphere into chaotic. Everything was blurry.

And then it stopped.

The blurriness, the voices. Everything became laser focus. Now the small dew droplets along the ferns were visible, gleaming from the shining light. Where was the light from?

Further delving into these thoughts proved impossible, though, because there was another voice. It was clearer than the whispers, alone.

_ “Fire may save the clans.” _

So quiet, so seemingly strange and irrelevant and boring, yet the one line somehow seemed to hold so much… meaning. So much truth, yet uncertainty. Overall, it seemed to hold power. 

But then the laser focusing suddenly stopped, and everything became a blurry haze once more, before returning to black. And there… there was another whisper. Just as distinct and important-sounding as the last.

_ “Fire may save the clans.” _

****

\---

****

While being suddenly jolted out of sleep was never a good experience, it was even worse from the strange and ridiculous dream he had. But still… it seemed to hold so much  _ importance _ . Importance that absolutely needed to be known. 

And that was why he immediately ran from his den when he woke, not even noticing the confused glances sent towards him as he shot towards the leader's den. They needed to know. And, of course, looking as tired yet courageous as always, there he was.

He turned suddenly, eyes flashing with confusion. It seemed he had woken recently as well, eyes with just a slight glaze remaining, droopy ears, the slightest less amount of tenseness in his shoulders.

“Yes? I don’t believe I ordered you to come here…” It might seem condescending if said in another tone, but with this one it was just something of confusion as well as worriedness.

“I need to tell you of my dream.” The response came quick, without a second thought.

"Did StarClan... contact you?" The black and white tom's ears pricked, and he sat up a little taller in his nest, as if he was hopeful that that was the case.

"Yes... at least, I'm positive that it was StarClan's doing." He settled himself down on the soft ground of his leader's den after a brief glance to see if it was okay to do so. He steadied and prepared himself; he had just woken up from that dream, so he was still a little shocked.

But those five words still rested in his head, and he knew he had to tell his leader.

" _ Fire may save the Clans _ ." It was five simple words, yet they still had a mysterious, eerie feel to them. Looking up to see his leader's reaction, for a brief moment he saw something spark in his amber eyes—longing? Hopefulness? Perhaps... remembering something—or some _ one _ —that he used to hold dear to him. But the expression was gone in an instant, and his leader nodded, lowering himself to the den floor once again.

"Thank you for this message, Barkface," he murmured. "I'm certain we will know what this "fire" is soon enough. However," he added, "isn't fire something that is to be feared? How can it save the Clans?"

"Not this time, Tallstar," Barkface responded. "This time, fire is something that will protect instead of destroy. I  _ know _ it."

Tallstar nodded. "Very well then. StarClan has sent you this message, so it must be true." He stood up, amber eyes blazing with determination and protection. "Fire may save the Clans. And whatever this "fire" is, we will find it, no matter how long or hard it takes." 


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 1. We will now actually be getting to see Rusty...

#  CHAPTER ONE

 

Intake of warm air, the gentlest of stirrings in his coat. Such miniscule details, but they seemed to be enlarged to a much larger scale under a microscope of importance. Everything seemed so precious. The rough feeling of dirt beneath his paw pads, the tall grasses brushing against his shoulders and tail, even the watery feeling in his eyes from the wind in his face.

It felt like home.

The confined walls of his current home were nothing compared to this vast moorland that stretched onwards as far as the eye could see. There were no walls or fences to confine him, to trap him and prevent him from ever leaving. But out here, he could run as far as he wanted to.

He could be free.

The flame coloured tom began to spring across the moors, moving his paws naturally, as if it were instinct and he had been doing this all his life. It felt so  _ natural _ to be doing something like this, to be running across the open fields with no ending nor consequences.

As his paws seemed to naturally guide him, he skidded to a halt as a scent hit his nose. He was a little annoyed to be stopping his rare moment of freedom, but soon became alert as he identified the scent. It wasn't foreign at all, and the tom was able to easily identify it.

_ Rabbit! _

__ Eyes suddenly locked on the rabbit, he stalked forward, trying to make as little noise as possible. The rabbit didn't hear nor see him, hopping a little and sniffing at the grass every once in a while. After pausing for just a moment to prepare himself, the tom lunged for the rabbit, but as he did so, its ears rose and it began to hop away as fast as it could to escape its predator.

It wasn't fast enough, however, and Rusty managed to catch up with it quickly, as if the wind itself was guiding his paws. He leaped at the prey and pinned it down, but before he could make his kill official, he began to hear sounds.

Sounds that  _ most definitely _ should  _ not _ be occurring within a moorland.

After the initial shock from the sudden sounds, the tom found himself not in the wide, open moorlands, but instead laying on his bed in his house, one of his housefolk kneeling down to refill his food bowl.

So  _ that _ was what woke him up.

The clatter of the small, round, pebble-like kibbles hitting against the metallic bowl created a distinct noise, almost like rain beating on a window. 

The slightly familiar voice of his housefolk calling him over suddenly reached his ears, and he quickly pushed himself to his paws, stretching out his spine and digging his claws into the soft white bedding before padding over to the food that they had poured into his bowl. When he bit into it, it was a bit hard, but regardless he chewed it small enough so he could swallow.

His housefolk had left the room by the time he had finished eating his food, so he glanced at the door. The cat door didn’t seem to be locked, so he padded over to it, pushing up the smooth, clear flap so he could exit to the outside world. It was dark outside, his own house as well as other ones casting large shadows before him. There weren’t many sounds, other than the quiet noise of his paw pads pressing into the dirt of his housefolk’s garden, as well as some crickets chirping.

Rusty headed through the garden, doing his best to avoid stepping on the numerous flowers that were sprouting from the ground. He pulled himself on top of the fence that marked the edge of the garden, giving him full view of the other gardens near his as well as the forest that lined them. He studied the dark woods carefully, the dark shadows from the trees giving no clue as to what was inside.

A feeling of curiosity sparked in him. What was beyond this dark, dreary forest? If he made his way through it, would on the other side, like a golden prize glistening in a bright light, be the lovely moors and fields he had been dreaming of?

Rusty began to hear his housefolk calling, and he glanced back. He wanted to see if, just maybe, going into the forest could lead him to where he really wanted to be. A feeling of guilt came to him, but regardless, he didn’t respond to them by returning. He continued to study the dark, daft forest, before leaping down, his bell making a sharp noise in the silent night. He began to head towards the woods, before he was knocked out of his thoughts.

“Where are you off to, Rusty?” The curious voice came from behind him, and he turned around, the voice all too familiar with him.

There, sitting on the fence, his head cocked slightly to the side, was a black-and-white

tom.

“Oh- hello Smudge.” Rusty shuffled his paws, not meeting his friend’s gaze. “I was just gonna take a look.”

Smudge’s immediate response was large eyes, and stumbling that made him nearly fall off the fence.

“Why would you go in there? It’s really dangerous. Even you know that!” Smudge shook his head, “It’s probably really easy to get hurt. Henry said he went in there once.”

“That fat old tabby never went into the woods!” Rusty hissed, shaking his head in denial. “He’s hardly been beyond his own garden since his trip to the vet. All he wants to do and is willing to do is eat and sleep.”

“I’m serious! He even caught a robin!” Rusty snorted at Smudge’s insistence.

“All he does is complain about birds. Even if he did,” -there was a noticeable amount of doubt in his voice- “it had to be before he went to the vet.”

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Henry told me of big wild cats who sharpen their claws on the bones of the other wild cats!” Smudge’s eyes were wide, and it seemed he completely believed these claims.

“Even if they are in there, I’m not going to meet them. I’ll avoid anything that’s fishy.” 

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” the plump cat purred, but his eyes betrayed worry for his friend, “Maybe you’ll see something cool… although I doubt it.” He leapt from the fence into his own garden, and just like that, it returned to the eerie atmosphere with just Rusty and the large, dark woods before him.     

As he walked, his pawsteps led him into the forest. He hadn't ever been  _ this _ close to it—usually he would stare into the darkness or pace around before it, watching the leaves and grass sway in the wind and wondering about whatever lurked beyond the shadows.

He took a few more steps forward, and while he was still extremely close to the houses and gardens he had left behind, he was now actually standing  _ in _ the forest. Though it wasn't where he longed to be, and the constant debris littering the forest floor made his movements awkward, it had to be the start of his journey to wherever those moorlands from his dreams lay.

_ They  _ have _ to be beyond this forest. I just  _ know _ it! _

__ As he continued through the dark forest, he could feel and scent all sorts of things. The sap smell from the trees, a giant mix of similar cat smells. Moonlight filtered through the leaves, leaving patterns along the otherwise dark floor. He hummed, taking in all the new scents and objects. Before he could continue this thought, a grey blur darting between the bushes and leaves flashed in the edge of his vision. Rusty paused, all senses alert, before realization seemed to hit him.

_ A mouse. _

__ The tom lowered himself to the ground, slowly stalking towards the small prey creature.  _ It's not the same as the prey I almost catch in my dreams, _ he mused to himself,  _ but it'll certainly be better than the food my housefolk give me, that's for sure. _

__ As he was focusing intently on stalking his prey, the bell on his collar jingled, and the mouse suddenly looked up, scanning its surrounding areas before its small eyes locked onto Rusty. It began to dart away from him, and Rusty immediately dashed after it, failing to realize how much noise he was making, both from running through the crowded forest and the sounds being produced by the bell. One thing and one thing only was on his mind, and that was to catch at least  _ something _ for himself, even if it was in the forest and not the place where he intended to head to.

Too late, he realized, that sprinting after the mouse was a bad idea, for he suddenly tripped, falling to the ground. He was about to stand up and pursue his nearly caught prey when he heard a hiss from somewhere near him and, before he knew it, he was being pinned down by some foreign cat.

Rusty began to struggle, feeling whatever cat this was begin to dig their teeth into his shoulder. Making a helpless choking noise, he tried to get the cat off. He twisted over, forcing the cat into a the base of a nearby tree. He heard a gasp from his attacker, clearly startled from the sudden retaliation.

Rusty quickly pushed himself out of the grip, sprinting a few tail lengths forward before turning around. The two cats locked eyes, and he got a chance to look at his attacker fully.

They were around his age, with a thick coat of grey fur with a darker stripe running from his nose to tail tip, and wide, yellow eyes that stared back at him curiously. Rusty braced himself for another attack, but instead, the cat took a small step forward, humour now lighting up his large eyes.

"Is... is something funny?" Rusty asked, still tense for another round of fighting.

"Nah," the other cat—a tom—mewed. "It's just weird seeing a kittypet's first instinct being fighting back instead of running away." He sat down, beginning to groom himself as Rusty watched intently. "My name's Greypaw, by the way. I'm training to be a ThunderClan warrior."

Rusty didn't say anything or take another step; his mind was still fixated on the fight that had just happened. "Well,  _ I'm _ just looking around. The forest seemed interesting, but I really wanna know what's on the other side."

Greypaw paused in his washing to look up at him. "Looking around? I think what you meant to say was ‘intruding on my territory.’" He stood up, taking a step forward. "Lucky for you, you're not worth hurting. Not only do I barely have any training, but you're clearly not from the other Clans. It's not worth it." He nodded to the blue collar around Rusty's neck, and Rusty momentarily lowered his head to look down at the collar, then back at Greypaw.

Suddenly, the cat’s other words hit him. "Other Clans?"

Greypaw began spluttering, taking a few steps back. His eyes widened in disbelief, “You don't know about the four Clans that hunt past these woods?  _ Everyone _ who lives around here should!"

"All I've heard is rumours—"

" _ My  _ Clan is ThunderClan, which you should know, since I just told you that. Other than that…” he trailed off for a moment, before his gaze focused again, now with a look of anger that didn’t seem to be directed at Rusty, “There’s  _ ShadowClan _ , which is pretty much just rogues with a different bloodline, if you ask me.

“Er… there’s also RiverClan, which is just full of slimy cats who think they’re fish. And practice cannibalism.” Rusty giggled at this, and Greypaw grinned, seemingly pleased that he had made him laugh.

“Besides that, there’s WindClan, which is just some empty field with scrawny rabbit-chasers.”

Rusty’s ears pricked at the word ‘field,’ “A field? What is WindClan like?”

Greypaw fixed him with a slightly curious and confused glance, before shrugging, “Some grassy fields. The cats are really skinny and fast…” He paused, “Why ask?”

"I was just... curious," Rusty responded, choosing not to tell this other cat about his recurring dreams about running and hunting freely in the open fields. With this new information, however, he realized that he might have a chance to fulfil that dream after all. After a moment of silence passed between them, Rusty decided to ask another question. "What's life like in ThunderClan?"

Greypaw’s eyes suddenly lit up with enthusiasm, “Oh, it’s the best!” He meowed, his expression suddenly full of life, “ThunderClan is the best Clan—I train to protect my friends—I hunt food to keep everyone safe. One day, I’ll fight alongside the warriors in battle to keep my entire Clan safe. It really is lovely—now that I’m an apprentice, I have permission to go out into the forest. And the rest of the territory really  _ is  _ as great as the others in my Clan say!” he was smiling, and his words did sound truly honest. Rusty couldn’t help but feel admiration for the cat’s passion.

“Really?” Rusty inquired, “It… well… my life sounds a lot easier. You really want to do all that work? It sounds… difficult.”

Greypaw gave Rusty a look as if he had turned into a fish with legs, “Of course I do! I’ve always wanted to. It’s my- my-” he seemed to struggle for a word, “Purpose! Job! And I’d do anything for my Clan.”

Rusty’s mouth quirked in a smile, “I think I can tell.”

After fixing Rusty with a curious gaze for a few moments, Greypaw groaned. “StarClan, I can’t imagine how you live, cramped up in a home, eating rabbit droppings for food,” he snorted, “What do you even  _ do  _ all day?” He cocked his head.

Rusty shrugged. “I… er… talk with the other cats in the neighborhood.”  _ Smudge, mainly. _ The thought passed through his head, but he didn’t say it aloud. He sighed, trying to think of other activities he did, “I also sometimes can explore the rest of the town, although I can’t really go too far…” he frowned, glancing to the side, “I’ll admit, yeah, it’s a bit… daft.” He paused once more, before eyeing the grey cat with a mischievous gaze, “Well, I mean, at least we don’t have weird names.”

Greypaw scoffed, “Oh, come on. We have names that celebrate when we move on in our life. What even is  _ your  _ name? Grassy? Daisy? Fluffy?” 

“My name is Rusty, thanks. And- er- our names aren’t weird and complicated like yours seem to be!”

“But yours aren’t not  _ special _ . They don’t represent anything!”

Rusty met his gaze, trying to come up with something witty to prove him wrong, but nothing came to mind. He shook his head, before he began a small, quiet laugh,

“Oh, gosh. This is a ridiculous argument.”

Greypaw gave him another lopsided, mischievous grin, and looked like he was about to laugh as well, before there was a sudden shuffling sound from the bushes. Greypaw's amusement faded as he lifted his nose to scent the air and turned around to see two full grown cats emerge from the bushes.

One cat was a large, golden coloured tom. The fur around his neck was thicker than the rest of the fur on his body, making it appear as if he had some sort of mane, and his green eyes shone with curiosity.

The other cat that accompanied him was a shorter molly with a thinner pelt than her companion. She had blueish grey fur that glowed silver in the moonlight that broke through the trees, and wise, dark blue eyes. A large scar ran down one of her shoulders, making her look more intimidating.

"Greypaw," the golden tom meowed, though his voice wasn't too harsh, "What did I tell you about going off on your own?"

"Sorry... sorry, Lionheart," Greypaw mewed, averting his gaze and lowering his head.

"It's quite alright," the aforementioned Lionheart reassured him. His gaze travelled towards Rusty, as did the blue molly's, and he felt himself shrink under the eyes of the wild cats. What were they thinking of him? Were they going to chase him off? Were they going to attack him?

After moments of tense silence, the molly spoke up, taking a pace forward so that she was standing closer to Greypaw. "And who's this?" she asked, her blue eyes still focused on Rusty. He flinched under her gaze, but was otherwise quiet and unmoving

, not being able to predict the feral cats' next moves.

"He's just a kittypet," Greypaw said dismissively. "He said that he was just exploring the forest. I  _ tried _ to fight him off, but he kinda... also fought back."

"I see..." the molly muttered, still studying him.

In the tense silence, Greypaw leaned forward to Rusty. "That's Bluestar. She's the  _ leader _ of ThunderClan," he whispered. "And Lionheart's my mentor. He's the one that's gonna train me to be a warrior."

"What was your goal coming here into the forest?" Bluestar asked cooly.

Rusty looked down at his paws. "I was just exploring, I- I promise! I wanted to know what was past the forest, so I thought I'd take a look. I also tried catching a mouse, and-"

Bluestar's eyes lit up, a hint of anger flashing within them. "Hunting is  _ not _ just a fun activity," she hissed. "We need all the prey we can get to feed our Clan, and I don't want my Clan to starve because some kittypet was roaming around in  _ our _ woods, hunting  _ our _ prey for sport!"

"I'm sorry!" Rusty apologized, head hung low. "It... it won't happen again. I promise." As Rusty looked up at the two adult wild cats, he wondered what his fate would be, and he wondered if he should have ever wandered into the forest to begin with.

There was no way he was going to get to the other side if he was going to be met with angry cats who would defend their territory with their life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Chapter 2 will be out soon.
> 
> (Commenting is always welcome and encouraged!)


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to this.

#  CHAPTER TWO

 

After no words were spoken for what seemed like forever, Rusty decided to ask another question. "How...  _ hard _ is Clan life?" He had already asked Greypaw what Clan life is like, but he was curious as to what the dangers and risks were, especially if they came from more experienced cats like Bluestar and Lionheart.

"The other Clans are our rivals," Lionheart began, speaking up instead of Bluestar. "We have to fight to defend not only our territory, but our prey and the cats that belong to our Clan."

"How big are the Clans?" asked Rusty, loosening his tense posture as he started to become more comfortable.

"Big enough to manage defending borders and territories." This time, it was Bluestar who spoke up. No longer was she angry, instead fixing Rusty with a more curious gaze as she was doing before. "You are a very...  _ unusual _ kittypet," she added. “I observed yours and Greypaw’s little fight.”

“You- you were  _ watching _ us?" Greypaw suddenly mewed in alarm, breaking out of his silence.

Bluestar nodded. “While I have a feeling that if it were a bigger foe, you would not be able to do anything. However, for a cat of your size and age,” she paused, “You yourself could make a good warrior.”

Rusty cocked his head to the side. "What are you saying...?"

Bluestar gave him a small smile. "I'm offering you a choice to join us. However," she added, "as Lionheart just explained, Clan life is not easy. You would have to abandon your kittypet ties in exchange for your full loyalty to our Clan."

Everything seemed to focus at once, and Rusty began to think. Seeing the woods around him, he knew it was a significant upgrade to the trapped walls of his home… but…

“I- I need more time to think about it.” He shuffled his paws on the forest floor. "But- why ask me?"

"Truth be told, ThunderClan could use some more warriors," Bluestar murmured. "Too much blood has been spilled lately, and lives can be lost at any point."

"If you do choose to accept Bluestar's offer, just know that you can never return to Twolegplace. You must devote your entire life to the Clan until the day you join StarClan."

_ Twolegplace. He probably means my housefolk, _ Rusty realized.

"You won't get the same treatment your twolegs give you, either," warned Bluestar. "The later seasons are harsh for each of the four Clans. Some days, some cats go without eating at all." The molly looked him up and down. "Tell you what. We can give you until next sunhigh to think about my offer. Once you've made your choice, come back to this spot. We'll send some warriors to get your answer, and if you accept, you will be taken to our camp."

Rusty nodded. "I understand," he meowed.

Bluestar nodded, satisfied. "Good. Lionheart, Greypaw, let's head back to camp. We're done here." She shot Rusty one last glance before turning and bounding through the forest. Rusty watched her curiously and wondered how she was able to navigate through the woods so easily and swiftly.

And after Greypaw gave him a reassuring smile, he too vanished into the forest along with his Clanmates. Rusty gave the bushes another glance before turning to pad back to his house.

_ Is this what I really want? Or do I want something... more than that...? _

 

\---

 

"You're back!"

Rusty turned to the source of the voice, though he didn't expect Smudge to still be up. Was he waiting for him to return? The thought warmed his heart as he leaped onto the fence next to his friend.

"Yup."

"What happened in there?" the black and white tom asked curiously. "You were gone for such a long time, and I was starting to think that something bad happened to you! I was thinking that maybe those rumours were right all along, and I was about to go check on you and—"

"I'm  _ fine _ ," Rusty reassured his friend. His gaze travelled towards the forest. "I'm not hurt. I promise."

"So what happened out there?" asked Smudge. "Did’ja catch anything in there?"

"Nope. I almost caught a mouse, but turns out that it's hard to catch prey in a forest like that. But it also turns out that hunting there was a bad idea, since it was territory for the wild cats that live in the forest."

Smudge's eyes became as wide as the moon in the sky. "You... you met wild cats? That  _ didn't _ hurt you?"

Rusty nodded casually. "Yep. They asked me to join them, too. But—"

"You're- you're not  _ seriously _ considering it, are you?"

Rusty sighed, lowering his head. "I... I don't know. I've never been happy here, with my housefolk. I've always wanted to do something...  _ more _ , ya know? While Clan life seemed exciting, that particular group of cats just... wasn't what I was looking for."

Smudge tilted his head, and Rusty focused his attention on him. "What do you mean?"

"I've been having... dreams. Dreams of running in large, open plains as far as the eye could see.” He paused. "It... it really felt like  _ home _ ." Smudge sat in silence as Rusty continued on. "They—the wild cats, I mean—mentioned that one of the Clans beyond the forest fit the description of my dreams perfectly."

"Are you..." Smudge swallowed, expression growing more and more somber by the moment. "Are you going to try and find that Clan?"

Rusty looked down once again. "I really,  _ really _ want to, but..." He locked eyes with his friend, practically his only friend in the town. "I also don't wanna leave you here. Alone. But at the same time..."

"You want to join them, don't you?" Smudge asked, filling in the blank. The other kittypet nodded in confirmation.

"I do," he mewed softly.

Smudge nodded sadly. "I... I probably won't ever get to see you again, though!" he exclaimed. "But... I know you are unhappy here. When will you tell them what you really want? Or will you try and find the other Clan immediately?"

"I'm hoping I'll be able to find them," he responded. "At least, I'm hoping the ones I met today will be able to escort me to wherever WindClan is." He saw confusion in Smudge's face before Rusty added, "I have until around next sunrise to talk to them again."

Smudge nodded. "Can we... can we at least spend some time together tomorrow? Just one last time before you leave?"

Rusty nodded, leaping off of the fence. "Of course we can. I want to have a proper goodbye with you." He let out a yawn. "It's late. I’ll find you somewhere in your garden, just be outside."

"Okay."

Rusty retreated back into his house and crawled back into his bed. It was hopefully the last time he would be sleeping in it, and while it was comfortable, he knew he probably wouldn't miss it. Tomorrow, he would finally be able to find the location he was seeing in his dreams, and if the cats there were as nice as they were in ThunderClan, then they would let him join them.

He was sure of it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Chapter 3 out soon!
> 
> (Commenting always welcome and encouraged!)


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back. Enjoy.

#  CHAPTER THREE

****

Rusty could feel the soft breeze pushing his whiskers against his cheeks and muzzle, and a smile curled on his snout.

_ This is my home _ , was the only thing he could think.

He broke into a sprint, feeling the wind against his face, his paws glazing over the ground, the soft grasses brushing against his belly fur. There was a clear sky that was tinted yellow with the sign of an approaching night. 

Suddenly, several dark figures flickered in his peripheral vision, and he turned his head slightly, still running, although slightly slower than before.

There were cats. Many of them. Toms and mollies of all colors running through the tall grass, their eyes blazing with determination, their muscular bodies stretching with the same amount of passion in every stride. Rusty could only watch in awe as the cats raced past him, or rather,  _ alongside _ him. He could only just stop himself from stopping to watch them, but instead returned his gaze to look in front of him, and he ran. He could feel the presence of the other cats alongside him and behind him, each and every one of them with the same amount of determination and passion in every paw step.

These were cats that he wanted to be alongside. They made him feel powerful, with more strength than he had ever felt in his kittypet life.

But just then, as he was about to get lost in this perfect reality, he came back to his own. He blinked away sleep from his eyes, seeing the dull light fixture on the ceiling, the white color of his own bed, the tiled floor, and groaned. Or at least, he was feeling down before remembering the events from the previous day.

_ I’ll find them. But first… _ He rose from his bed, stretching the ache from his limbs.

He padded through the cat door, going through the garden, before leaping on top of a fence. He studied the garden that was next to his own, before jumping down.

He picked his way around the bright red and yellow flowers, before seeing Smudge sitting on the patio of his own housefolk’s home.

“Hey!” Rusty mewed, leaping up to sit beside him.

Smudge startled, turning to see his friend.

“Oh, hey Rusty,” he said, tail flicking, before his expression changed, “Are you here to… well… are you leaving soon?”

Rusty nodded sadly, twisting around to look at the sky. It was still a beautiful mixture of pinks and oranges, and he could faintly see the yellow glow of the rising sun appearing behind the houses. "I'll have to leave soon. But... we did make a promise last night, remember?"

Smudge smiled sadly, eyes flashing with grief, “Yeah… do you want to do something or just… talk? Or do you want to say bye to anyone else…?”

Rusty turned back to his friend, shaking his head. "I just want our last moments to be special. I don't think I'll ever see you again after this."

Smudge sighed, before putting his muzzle to his friend’s shoulder, “Is it really going to make you happier?”

Rusty nodded, not saying anything aloud.

Smudge pulled his head back to look at the forest to the side, and Rusty could see a smile on his snout. “I can tell. I just hope you remember me.”

"Of course I will. There’s no way I could forget my best friend. Try to make other friends, though. I’m gonna miss you.”

Smudge nodded. “As will I.”

****

\---

****

The two cats spent the rest of the morning playing in the garden, just like they used to do all the time. Eventually, Rusty could begin to feel the sun beating down on his back, and he knew that it was sunhigh.

The time had come for him to give the wild cats his answer.

“Smudge,” he said slowly, “I have to go.”

Smudge nodded, understanding and grief clouding his eyes. He gently placed his muzzle against the side of Rusty’s for a few moments, before stepping back. “Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.” He paused, “I hope I see you at some point again.”

Smudge nodded, before Rusty turned around, and just as he was doing so, he froze. The calls of Rusty’s housefolk rang out into the air. 

He glanced at the sky.  _ It’s not nighttime. Why are they calling me? _

__ He frowned, before sprinting out of Smudge’s garden, and jumped into his own. He padded up to the housefolk that had been calling him, eyes squinting in confusion.

His fur fluffed up in surprise and alert when he felt them grab him, and pull him up into the crook of their arms. He looked around in confusion as he was carried into the house, before he spotted the cage they were walking to.

_ Oh,  _ was the only thought that could process in his head, before he started struggling in panic. Too late. They shoved him inside of the cat cage, and locked the door behind him.

_ No! _ He paced around the small area, still in shock from the events that had just occurred.  _ I needed to tell them my answer! I needed to find WindClan! _

__ _ Am I going to end up like Henry? Where are we even  _ going _? _

__ He could feel the cage being picked up, and struggled to keep balance as he was carried. Eventually, they opened the door to their car and placed the cage on one of the seats. He curled up in the back of the cage, feeling a sense of hopelessness as he felt the car begin to move. He stayed like that for awhile.

****

\---

****

He nearly jumped out of his spot in the back of the cage when he felt the car suddenly come to a stop, and he saw his housefolk in the front get out. When the door next to the chair he was set on opened, he eyed the housefolk with curious hopeful eyes.

They bent down, pulling the latch of the lock on the cage open. He paused, staring at the entrance, and heard his housefolk mutter something before closing the door to the car and leaving the cage open

Rusty hesitated for a moment before pushing the rest of the cage door open with his paw and climbing out. He leaped up on top of it, steadied himself on his paws so that he didn't fall over, and looked outside of the window.

This definitely wasn't anywhere near the vet.

However, out of both adjacent windows, all Rusty could see were flat moorlands that stretched onward for who knows how long. He felt a surge of hopefulness at the sight of the plains, and he had to do a double take to make sure that his mind still wasn't reeling with the events of his dream.

_ Is this really it? The fields that I've been seeing in my dreams? _

__ _ Is WindClan near here? _

__ As he was looking out of the windows, he nearly didn't notice that one of them in the front seats of the car was rolled down. Suddenly, he got a plan. Carefully climbing down and onto the soft material of the seat, he leaped forward, landing in the front area. Thankfully, the window was rolled down enough so that he could easily jump onto the opening and out of the open window.

He could finally be free.

After readying himself to do so, Rusty leaped and sat perched on the area where normally there was a wall of glass confining him. After sitting for a few moments, he leaped out of the car as carefully as he could, setting foot on the soft grass underpaw.

He was finally here.

He dashed forward, wanting to get as far away from the car as he could. Starting today, he was going to leave his kittypet origins behind, find WindClan, and become one of them.

Running through the open fields felt  _ right _ , just like his dreams. The grass underneath his paws, the wind blowing in his fur and face...

Before he was able to do much else, however, the fresh scent of cats hit his nose. He skidded to a halt, twisting around to try and find the source of the scent, but before he knew it, he was surrounded by two cats, both much older and looked more experienced than him.

"Uh... hello?" Rusty asked, shrinking down a bit from the intimidating size of the cats towering over him. Were these WindClan cats?

"Tallstar!" One of the two cats, a grey tabby tom, turned to his companion, a black and white tom. Rusty couldn't see much from his position, but he could barely see that one of the tabby's blue eyes was filled with some sort of powerful emotion. Anger? Protectiveness? "Intruder on WindClan territory!"

"I'm not an intruder...!" Rusty hissed.

"Then what are you—"

"Tornear," the second tom mewed, and the grey tabby—Tornear, his name was—took a step back, his eyes still focused on the black and white tom nearby. "There's no need to be so aggressive." He nodded at Rusty's collar. "He's just a kittypet. He means no harm."

"I don't  _ want _ to be a kittypet!" Rusty blurted out. He stood up to his full height, eyes sparkling the two cats. "Are you... are you WindClan cats by any chance?"

The two toms looked surprised for a moment, before Tallstar broke out of his shock and nodded. "Indeed we are. How did you hear about us? And what is your name?"

"My name is Rusty. I used to live with my housefolk near the forest, which I found out is ThunderClan territory. I met a cat from that Clan and... and he told me about WindClan." He looked at the two cats hopefully. "I was wondering if I could join your Clan." He hoped that he wasn't too blunt with his request, but as Tornear suddenly spluttered in surprise, he realized that he might have been.

" _ What _ ? Join WindClan? But- but you're just a kittypet! You—"

" _ Tornear _ ." Tallstar spoke the name with a bit more annoyance than the last, and the grey tabby immediately shut up, looking down in shame. After making sure he was done talking, he turned his attention back to Rusty, observing him up and down. Something sparked in his eyes, but Rusty couldn't tell what, as it was gone within an instant as he spoke up once again. "You said you wanted to join WindClan?" he asked, no anger or aggression filling his voice, just curiosity and surprise.

Rusty nodded vigorously.

Tallstar took a moment to assess the situation. "You said you met some ThunderClan cats, back when you lived in Twolegplace." After remembering Greypaw saying that word and inferring what it meant, Rusty nodded, and the black and white tom continued on. "They told you about WindClan, correct? Did they tell you about Clan life, by any chance?"

Rusty nodded and looked back at the other tom—he guessed that this was WindClan's leader, due to having a similar name to Bluestar with it ending in "star"—and his eyes filled with seriousness. "They told me how hard it is, yes, but... I've never been happy as a kittypet. I've constantly wanted to run free in the open fields, and WindClan fit that description perfectly." He paused before adding, "Please. May I join WindClan?"

For a while, there was silence, and Rusty thought that they were considering sending him off back to his housefolk. But after a few moments passed, Tallstar spoke up. "Do you  _ truly _ understand what you're getting into, Rusty?" he asked, his voice taking on a more serious tone than before. "I understand that you were told about Clan life by whoever those ThunderClan cats may have been, but they were  _ not _ lying. You must devote yourself to the Clan for the rest of your life, and can never return back to your soft kittypet life." He paused, allowing his words to sink in. "Knowing all of this, do you truly wish to become a member of WindClan?"

Tornear looked as if he wanted to say something, but after being silenced by his leader twice, his mouth remained shut. Without a second thought, Rusty nodded. "Yes, Tallstar. This  _ is _ what I want."

Tallstar nodded. "Very well then. I will lead you back to our camp." He shot a glance at Tornear to make sure he didn't protest, and when nothing else was said between them, the WindClan leader bounded ahead, followed by Tornear. Rusty darted forward to follow them, though he wasn't as fast as the other two more experienced cats were.

He took the moment to observe the territory that belonged to WindClan. It was mainly just large fields of grass stretching endlessly onward, with a few small trees and other groups and clusters of plants scattered around.

It definitely felt like he truly belonged here.

The two cats suddenly halted, and Rusty stopped in his tracks so that he didn't bump into them. He took a few steps forward so that he was standing beside Tallstar, and his eyes widened at the sight that laid before him.

A natural dip, surrounded by walls of gorse, bracken, and other sturdy plants rested neatly in front of the three cats. He could see a few cats milling about in the small clearing, chatting to each other and cleaning each other's pelts. A few distinct hollows could be seen, though it was impossible to tell what was inside of them. There were also a few areas with smaller walls surrounding them, and from where he stood, he littered with neat circles of moss that looked like they could be big and comfortable enough to sleep on.

Tallstar flicked his long tail, taking a step forward. "This is WindClan's camp," he meowed proudly, taking in the sight of it himself. As they sat admiring the camp, a black cat noticed them and limped up to them. Rusty glanced at the cat's twisted paw, but immediately turned his attention to the cat's bright green eyes. He didn't want to appear rude on his first day in the Clan.

Tallstar dipped his head. "Greetings, Deadfoot," he mewed, and the black tom dipped his head in return.

Deadfoot’s gaze turned to look at Rusty, expression unreadable, “And who is this?”

Rusty glanced at Tallstar, waiting to be introduced, but the tom was looking back, seemingly expecting Rusty to introduce himself.

“Er- I’m Rusty. I was a kittypet living near ThunderClan territory, and one of their apprentices told me about WindClan…”

While he was talking, Tornear cleared his throat, finally talking up again, “Basically, they wanted to join the Clan, and Tallstar accepted.”

Tallstar nodded, and Deadfoot looked back at him, “Will the ceremony begin soon?”

“Yes,” he paused, “I’ll go gather the cats.”

Rusty watched as the black and white tom padded over to a large rock in the center of the camp, before leaping on it. 

“Let all cats old enough to catch prey gather beneath Tallrock,” the tom’s call rang out throughout the camp, his head high with not a glimmer of weakness in his eyes. Slowly, cats in the clearing began to surround the rock, and a few cats padded out from the burrows along the edge of the camp.

Tornear padded forward to join the crowd of cats, and Deadfoot nodded to Rusty, waving his tail as he limped after the tabby tom. Taking this as a sign to follow the others and gather around Tallstar, he followed them as well.

Seeing Tallstar beckon him with his tail, he paused in his walk, before feeling a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Deadfoot, who was now gesturing to go on top of the rock with Tallstar. 

Rusty nodded nervously, before padding over and pulling himself up. Tallstar began to speak again, now that the cats had assembled.

“Cats of WindClan," he began, "me and Tornear found this kittypet wandering our territory just now. He told us that he used to live in the Twolegplace near ThunderClan territory, and met a cat that told him about the Clans. He has asked us if he could join, and I don't see a problem with that request. WindClan is in need of more warriors, after all."

Most of the WindClan cats were silent, while one or two of them shot him a strange look. Rusty tried not to shrink down from the sheer amount of eyes that were locked on him, and Tallstar briefly rested his tail on his back for reassurance, which he was thankful for.

Tallstar cleared his throat again. “So today, and from this day forward, this kittypet, Rusty, will now be known as Firepaw. As for who your mentor will be, I will take that responsibility."

Rusty—no,  _ Firepaw _ —was shocked. He wasn't expecting to be training with the leader of his new Clan. After his initial shock, however, Tallstar turned to Firepaw and briefly pressed his nose to his. "You'll make a great warrior of WindClan," he murmured gently.

"Firepaw! Firepaw!" The WindClan cats were beginning to chant his new name, and although a few of them joined in more hesitantly, they made themselves heard in the crowd regardless. Firepaw listened to the voices, suddenly feeling calmer than ever.

_ This is truly where I belong. _

"Tallstar," Deadfoot spoke up. "What will we do about his collar?" He pointed to the blue collar that was still around Firepaw's neck with his tail. "He can't have that thing around him. It's a sign of his kittypet life, and not only that, but it will alert both enemies and prey."

Tallstar nodded. "I was going to bring that up, but thank you for reminding me. Firepaw," he said, turning to the newly made apprentice, "In order to show your devotion to your new Clan, you will need to take off that collar yourself."

Firepaw looked at Tallstar for a few moments, mouth slightly parted, before craning his neck to see his collar. He looked back up at Tallstar and nodded.

He took his claws around the part where the collar was pressing against his neck, and tore at it with his claws. After spending a few more moments ripping up that particular part of the collar, he slipped it over his head, it being newly loose. It felt onto the rock beside him and the WindClan leader, the bell attached to it letting out the last dull jingle it would ever make.

Tallstar nodded in approval, and a few cheers came from the Clan, and Tallstar looked back at the crowd.

“Meeting dismissed. Would someone care to show Firepaw around?” 

For a few moments, no one said a word. Firepaw was starting to feel anxious before a small, pale brown tabby tom padded up to the Tallrock, bravery shining in his eyes.

"I can!" he mewed. His gaze locked with Firepaw's, and he smiled. Firepaw smiled back, before Tallstar nodded, let out a, "very well," and leapt off of the Tallrock.

Firepaw took the collar in his jaws, heading off of the Tallrock as well. He stood beside the pale brown tabby tom—he looked to be around his age, though maybe one or two moons older than him at most. As Firepaw began digging at the base of the Tallrock to bury his unneeded collar, the apprentice let out a cheery greeting.

"Hello, Firepaw! My name's Onepaw. Welcome to WindClan!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Chapter 4 will be out very soon.
> 
> (Commenting is always welcome and encouraged!)


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to this. Thank you for continuing to read.

#  CHAPTER FOUR

 

Firepaw buried the collar near the Tallrock,  the hole big enough so that it would be well hidden under the ground for many seasons to come. He filled the hole back up with enough dirt so that it looked just as it did before, as if nothing were ever underneath, and afterwards, he turned to the brown tabby still standing next to him and waiting for him to finish patiently.

“You… offered to showed me around?” Firepaw asked, a tremor of anxiety in his voice.  _ I don’t want to be here unwanted… so it's nice that I'm already being welcomed here. _

__ The apprentice nodded, smiling. “I guess I should show you the dens first-” He gestured around the camp with his tail. “We have the leaders den-” He proceeded to point- “The elders den-” He did so again- “The apprentice den, the warriors den, the nursery, and the medicine cat den.”

Firepaw studied the cat, taking in the information he had just heard. “The names seem very straightforward, so they shouldn’t be difficult to memorize… I presume we sleep in the apprentice’s den?”

Onepaw nodded. “Yeah, we should go check it out first. I’m sure the other apprentices are there, too.”

Firepaw stood still for a few moments, before realizing the tom was walking over to where he had pointed the apprentice den was, and padded after him. They entered a dip in the ground with leaves and bracken creating a small barrier from the rest of the camp. He didn't know how he was going to get used to sleeping in the open air without much cover, but he had hope that he was able to adapt to doing so. He could see a few cats already inside.

“You can choose any of these nests that don't already have a scent on them.” He padded over to a light grey molly, mewing, “Hey, Runningpaw.”

The molly, presumably Runningpaw, smiled as the two other apprentices approached. “Hey, Onepaw." She turned her gaze to Firepaw. "It’s a pleasure to meet you, Firepaw.” She laughed slightly, “I’m surprised you were let in so easily; usually rules about letting in outsiders into the Clan are more tight. Nonetheless, I bet you’ll be a great warrior!” She paused, glancing around the den, before her eyes landed on the other cat in the den. “Hey, Webpaw. You should introduce yourself, considering we’re gonna be working with the new apprentice.”

Firepaw turned to see a dark grey tabby tom, sitting in a nest close to the corner. He glanced up, before nodding. “Yeah… sure.” He padded over. “It’s… It’s nice to meet you.” 

Firepaw nodded enthusiastically in response,  _ These are the cats that I’ll be working with inside of WindClan!  _ WindClan _! _

__ “It’s great to meet you too,” he replied, and after a few more moments of silence, he added, “I hope I see you too in training soon.”

Onepaw grinned. “I’m sure your training will start real soon. Tallstar always seems eager to get things done without any sort of waste of time. It's interesting that he assigned himself as your mentor though,” he added, a hint of surprise in his tone. "Usually leaders don't do that." Before Firepaw could respond, he said something else. “Anyway, I’m sure he just wanted something to do. Seems like the productive type. We should go check out the other dens. I suppose you can pick out your nest later.”

Onepaw padded out of the den, and Firepaw quickly muttered to the other two apprentices, “See you later.” The two apprentices returned their farewells before he turned and exited the den.

He went after his- peer? Friend? It was unclear at the moment, who was pointing his tail at another den. Like the apprentices den, it was another dip in the ground, and though he couldn't make out a lot of details, he was able to tell that it was a lot more spacious inside.

“That’s the warriors den,” he explained. “Although… I’m pretty sure that the warriors wouldn’t want us going in. Whenever I go in, they always complain about ‘how they do enough work already’ and ‘need their rest’ and ‘don’t need some pesky apprentice bothering them.’ So…”

“Yeah… I- I get it.” Firepaw took a step away from the den, to which Onepaw laughed at with cheer, and continued to go to another den. Like the previous two, this den was also a dip in the ground, and though it was a lot more guarded, the walls being thicker and made with tougher materials, it was still exposed to the sky. A question suddenly appeared in Firepaw's mind, though he wanted to save it for later.

“This here is the elder’s den.” Onepaw peered inside the den. “They’re usually fine with us going in. Come on.” He beckoned the other apprentice, before entering the den.

Firepaw hurried after him, and before him were two cats who appeared to be in a small, slow conversation. Both of their heads turned to look at him, “Hey!” one of them, a silver tom with black dapples, mewed, smiling warmly. “You’re that new apprentice, aren’t you?”

The gaze from the tom was curious, and didn’t have any form of suspicion or aggression, yet Firepaw still felt nervous. “Yeah… Firepaw.”

The other cat, a light brown molly, chuckled, “You don’t have to be nervous. We’re not like those ‘I’m the leader of all the clans’ warriors.” She tilted her head, smiling. “I’m Fallowhawk, and this here is Spiderdapple.”

Onepaw nodded, grinning. “They’re great until they yell at you about being too rough with taking out their ticks.”

One of the elders, Spiderdapple, hit the apprentice with his paw, but it was in a friendly way. “I think you’ll make for a lovely warrior. Feel free to stop by in here when you want… We don’t really have much to do either than gossip ourselves.”

Fallowhawk nodded, a smile still remaining on her face. Firepaw took the chance to ask his question before they were forced to hurry along with their tour. "Hey... WindClan cats usually sleep exposed to the sky, right?" The other cats in the den with him fixed him with a curious glance, but nodded nonetheless, urging Firepaw on. "Well... what if it rains or something? Where are we supposed to sleep?"

"Good question," Spiderdapple mumbled. His eyes shot towards the sky as he added, "If there's any kind of rain, snow, storm, or something that will otherwise disturb our sleep, we usually head to one of the other dens that aren't exposed to the sky. It gets crowded sometimes, but it's our only way to stay safe and dry if some kind of bad weather suddenly happens."

Firepaw nodded, still confused as to why WindClan cats chose to sleep outside and exposed as opposed to sleeping somewhere warm, but he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he meowed, "Thanks for telling me."

The elders nodded, and a few moments of silence passed before Onepaw cut in, turning to Firepaw. “We should go look at the other dens.” Glancing at the elders, he added, "Thanks for letting us stop by."

Spiderdapple nodded, waving his tail in a farewell, and Fallowhawk mewed a quick, “Goodbye.”

The two apprentices left the den, now in the open camp. “Hmmm…” Onepaw muttered, eyes on the ground. “We can go to the nursery or the medicine den now.”

“Why not the leader’s den?” Firepaw cocked his head.

Onepaw laughed. “Oh, StarClan. You can’t wander in there uninvited. Usually the leader will summon you.” They both glanced at the entrance to the den. “Looks like Tallstar decided to sit in his den for now. He might call you later, especially since you're his apprentice now, but for now we’ll just go to the other dens.”

Firepaw nodded, thinking he might get the amount of authority the leader really held a bit better. “Well, I suppose we can look at the nursery. That would have mothers and their kittens, I’m guessing?”

Onepaw nodded. “Yeah, kits and queens. They don’t like us being too loud, though, since they have a couple of kits with them at the moment.” He headed over to the nursery, and ducked to enter it, Firepaw close behind him.

The nursery was one of the few dens that was inside a small burrow along the edge of the camp as opposed to being outside. It was fairly large, and rightfully so, with nests of moss scattered around as well.

There was one adult cat—one of the queens, Firepaw guessed—along with two kits who seemed to be play-fighting. They both stopped when the two apprentices entered, and eyed Firepaw with curious, wide eyes.

“Hey, Morningflower,” Onepaw mewed. He took a few looks around the nursery before adding, “Where’s Ashfoot?”

A tortoiseshell molly, most likely Morningflower, shrugged. “She wanted to take a walk. She even missed the meeting!” She sighed. “I’m sure she’ll be confused when she hears talk of the new apprentice floating around camp.” After saying this, she turned her head to look at Firepaw. “Speaking of which…” She purred, eyes flickering with curiosity. “Your arrival was very sudden,” she noted.

Firepaw nodded, evading her warm, questioning gaze, “Yeah… That’s because my arrival  _ was  _ sudden.” He hummed for a few moments nervously. “My housefolk- er- twolegs- were on some trip with their car, and along the way they stopped. I guess it happened to be right next to WindClan territory.”

Morningflower and Onepaw both looked confused at the word "car", but the molly nodded nonetheless. 

“Hey, aren’t you that kittypet?” This comment came from one of the two kits, but he hadn’t seen which. Upon hearing the kit speak, Firepaw turned so that he was looking at them, taking in their appearances the best he could. He saw that one was a grey tom, while the other a white molly.

Firepaw shuffled his paws nervously, before Morningflower cut in. “Eaglekit, that’s rude. No, he is not.” She shook her head. “He’s an apprentice now, just like Onepaw.” 

The small white molly kit remained silent, and was now looking at her paws. She seemed to be a few moons older than the grey tom.

“I… fine.” His attitude changed suddenly. “I’m excited to have you in the Clan! What happened to that thing around your neck?”

Morningflower sighed, looking like she was about to say something, but Firepaw mumbled, “I… got rid of it. I don't need it anymore.”

Apparently the simple and broad answer was enough for the small tom, because he nodded, grinning. Morningflower spoke, “You guys should go before Eaglekit continues to interrogate you.” She added under her breath, “Whitekit already has to deal with him, so we don’t want another victim.”

Onepaw smirked, looking like he was about to laugh, but instead just began to guide Firepaw from the den. On his way out, Firepaw mewed, “Well… I hope to see you another time Morningflower, and I hope to meet that… er… Ashfoot you mentioned.”

After he said that, he exited the den, and glanced at Onepaw. “You said that we still have to look at the medicine den?” From the name alone, he guessed that it was meant to be used for cats who needed to be healed in some way. He didn't know how they would be able to do such things—when he got sick or hurt, his housefolk, or twolegs, took him to the vet so that he could get better. Still, he was curious to know more about Clan traditions and ways, so he was excited to be getting to this den.

Onepaw nodded, and padded over to yet another den, slipping in. Firepaw followed him. The den, like the nursery, was a hollow along the edge of the camp border, and looked to be around the same size as the nursery as he took in the sights of the den.

Inside, there was a brown tom with a short tail looking at a wall covered in various leafy plants of different shapes, sizes, and colours, humming thoughtfully. He didn't  _ look _ sick or hurt, so Firepaw assumed that this was the medicine cat of the Clan, the one who was in charge with making the WindClan cats feel better.

“Hey, Barkface!” Onepaw meowed. 

The tom startled, before turning, having not noticed the apprentices entering the den until now. “Er- hello Onepaw. And… Firepaw.”

The gaze Barkface was fixing on Firepaw was intense, full of some sort of question and curiosity that Firepaw couldn’t name.

“Yeah," Firepaw confirmed, nodding.

"Well, it's a pleasure to have you in the Clan," the medicine cat meowed. "I trust that Tallstar made the right decision inviting you here." He paused for a moment before adding, "If you ever feel hurt or sick, you're welcome to stop by."

The medicine cat's questioning gaze lingered on Firepaw, and for a split second he thought he could see a hint of surprise in his yellow eyes before it vanished, leaving him to question whether that was just a figment of his imagination.

"It was nice seeing you again, Barkface," mewed Onepaw, dipping his head in respect. Firepaw copied him, albeit a bit more awkwardly. The other apprentice flicked his tail, muttering a quick, "Come on, Firepaw," before padding out of the den. Firepaw shot the medicine cat one last glance before he followed after Onepaw.

Firepaw watched as the other tom hummed in thought for a few moments, before turning to look at Firepaw, “Hey! I know what you can do.”

Firepaw raised a brow, a curious look on his face.

Onepaw simply led Firepaw over to the pile of prey in the middle of the camp, before gesturing that he stepped forward. “Have you tasted prey?”

Firepaw frowned, shaking his head. “No, I’ve only had the pellets from back with my housef- twolegs.” Truth be told, he was kind of excited at the thought of finally being able to taste  _ real _ prey instead of being forced to eat that dry, tasteless food his twolegs had given him.

Onepaw sighed. “I can’t imagine that. Come on! Take a bite of rabbit. I promise it tastes  _ much  _ better than the rabbit droppings they fed you in your old home.”

Firepaw hardly had enough time to relish the Twolegplace being called his “old home” before Onepaw gestured toward one of the rabbits again.

He dragged a rabbit from the pile. He sniffed it, and hummed. “It does smell good.”

He took a bite of it, and recoiled, not in disgust but in surprise. For being a dead animal, it seemed… really good, to put it lightly. Or, at least in contrast to the hard pellets they would feed him back in the Twolegplace.

Seeing his surprised expression, Onepaw laughed. “I know. I can’t imagine how weird it would be at first.”

Firepaw nodded, swallowing the bite before speaking, “It’s… delicious. At least compared to my old food.”

“Well, obviously.” Onepaw chuckled. “Even crowfood would probably taste better.”

Firepaw rolled his eyes, though a smile still appeared on his snout. He continued to eat the rabbit, delighted that no, the first bite hadn’t just been some strange delicious miracle.

Suddenly, there was a call from behind him. From the leader’s den. From Tallstar.

“Hey, Firepaw! Please come in soon, I wish to speak with you.”

Firepaw turned around in time to see him vanish back in his den, before glancing at Onepaw. After a few moments, Firepaw nudged the rest of the rabbit to his friend and turned around, padding over to the leader’s den and entering.

Inside he saw the black and white tom sitting on a larger nest grooming himself, bits of sunlight peeking through the bracken and brambles above and creating small rays of light across the leader.

Tallstar looked up as the apprentice entered the den. “Firepaw. Thank you for coming.”

Firepaw nodded and dipped his head. "Of course. Why is it that you wanted to see me?"

"I wanted to tell you more about your training, and what should be expected of you in the coming moons. I expect that Onepaw has been showing you around the camp?"

"Mhm. It's been interesting." His mind had been whirling with all of the new information that he had learned, but he knew that he would be able to memorize his Clan's camp by heart in the coming moons.

Tallstar nodded, seeming pleased with the apprentice's answer. "Good. As for training, there are two main things that will be taught to you: how to hunt and fight in order to protect and defend your Clan with your life. Your first lesson will start at dawn tomorrow, though it will just consist of showing you around the territory, so I suggest you rest. Understood?"

Firepaw nodded respectfully. "Yes, Tallstar."

Tallstar nodded. The two cats were silent for a moment before the leader spoke. "You know, Firepaw... you remind me of someone. Someone that I used to know quite a while ago." He smiled, eyes shining. "Perhaps it's destiny that you were brought here."

"Huh?"

Tallstar shook his head dismissively. "It's... not important right now. The important thing is is that you're here with us in WindClan." He nodded, pointing towards the entrance of the den with his long tail. "You are free to go. It's getting late, so I suggest you head to the apprentices' den now and get some rest."

"Yes, Tallstar." Firepaw backed out of the den, darting back over to where Onepaw was standing, waiting expectantly. The brown tabby had finished what was left of the rabbit and was discaring the last of the bones as he watched Firepaw approach him.

Onepaw raised a brow, silently asking what Tallstar’s summoning had been about, but Firepaw just waved him off with his tail. “We should get to the apprentice den,” Firepaw murmured to his friend, gesturing to the den.

Onepaw nodded, glancing up at the darkening sky, “I do suppose it’s getting a bit late.” he said softly, before padding over to the apprentice’s den with Firepaw in suit.

The two entered the den, and Firepaw’s eyes flickered over it; Runningpaw was curled up in her nest, nose dug in her fur, while Webpaw was grooming himself. He watched as Onepaw padded over to a nest a few tail-lengths away from Runningpaw’s, and followed him.

He pointed at a nest next to Onepaw’s with his tail. “Is this one taken?”

Onepaw laughed quietly, probably not wanting to wake Runningpaw. “You haven’t seen or scented any other apprentices, have you?”

Firepaw shrugged. “I suppose not.”

He settled into the nest he had chosen, seeing Onepaw doing the same in the next next to his, and sighed, pressing his muzzle into his front paws.

_ So much has happened today _ … he thought, but couldn’t help but smile.

_ I’m really in WindClan. I’m really in my home. _

And with this comforting thought, he drifted into unconsciousness.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoyed.
> 
> (FYI: These notes are made by Eazbeaz)
> 
> (Commenting is always welcomed and encouraged!)


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back.

# CHAPTER FIVE

 

    It was fairly early when Firepaw had to get out of his nest, surprisingly early, compared to the lack of a limit for him sleeping in when he was a kittypet. In fact, he had only woken up because Onepaw had nudged him until he woke, and then whispered that they needed to go, and that Deadfoot and Tallstar were waiting for them at the camp entrance.

    Naturally, Firepaw’s first response had been to jump out of his nest and have just a bit of panic, asking Onepaw questions like, “Did I wake up late?” or “Should I have gone to my nest earlier last night?” And, of course, Onepaw would shush him before quietly laughing, and saying no.

    And now Firepaw was outside of the den, walking beside Onepaw to their waiting mentors. Deadfoot nodded and silently greeted them with a dip of his head, while Tallstar murmured a hello, before the four set out.

    It was very odd- For all of his life, he had been dreaming of going through these fields, feeling the breeze against his face, feeling the soft grass underpaw. And now it was really happening. It was _really happening_. No, he wasn’t dreaming, nor daydreaming. The endless expanse of the plains stretched before him, and he had a friend as well as two seemingly trustworthy adult companions beside him.

    Tallstar must have sensed or seen the shock that was probably evident on his face, because he gently nudged him, “Are you alright?”

    Firepaw quickly nodded. Of course he was alright. He was beyond alright. “Yeah, it’s just…” He debated telling the cat his thoughts, and he glanced up, seeing that Deadfoot and Onepaw were a few tail lengths ahead, talking about something or other that he couldn’t clearly hear, and Firepaw felt himself trusting the leader. “My dream has been to be here for… all of my life, really. I don’t want to ramble about it, but… I’ve felt myself drawn to the fields, where you can run and run forever. Or at least, it feels like that.” He paused, but his mentor was silent. “It’s just… strange. Really, really wonderful, but strange. I keep thinking that I’m dreaming. But then I think to myself, ‘ _How would I have gotten this far if I was dreaming?_ ’” He laughed slightly, though he was not sure at what, “Just… now it’s real. Not a faraway fantasy that I’ll never achieve. I don’t know if you know what I mean, but…” He trailed off.

    The leader had stayed silent throughout him talking, and finally spoke, quietly. “I suppose that it would be strange. I will not be getting into any of my situations- they are far from important right now.” He paused, sighing. “You’re strong, Firepaw. I can tell. You’ll be an excellent warrior.”

    After that, they both did not speak. Soon, he looked up at a call from Deadfoot, “RiverClan border first?”

    Tallstar nodded. “We’ll go along a part of it, and we can leave some border markings while we’re here.” The two cats caught up with Deadfoot and his apprentice and continued along the territory as they headed for the border. Firepaw made sure to take in as much of the sights as possible—not only to start memorizing specific locations, but to take in the sights of his territory as well.

    As they reached the border, the patrol padded along it, and Firepaw observed the other side of the border with curiosity. He suddenly realized that the border for RiverClan territory and WindClan's was separated by a long drop in the ground. Firepaw peered over the edge of the gorge, seeing a river running along the bottom of it. He shivered, trying not to imagine what could happen if a cat fell down there, and forcing the intrusive thoughts out of his mind.

Looking back up and onto the other side of the gorge, he could see it definitely was pretty marshy, and even the ground below him had started to get a bit damp, causing him to take a few steps back. There were a few little streams he spotted as well. The whole place just seemed… well… wet. Too wet, especially for his liking.

    When he remarked this to Onepaw, the other apprentice laughed, “I can agree with you there,” he meowed, nodding, “I don’t get how they deal with that place.” He stretched his limbs. "I prefer running through the moors, not getting my paws wet, thank you very much."

    Firepaw smiled at his friend's remark and silently recalled the description that Greypaw had provided for the place, and chuckled to himself. He saw Onepaw glance at him with a questioning gaze, but he just waved it off.

    “We will be leaving to go along the ShadowClan border soon, but first I would like Firepaw to practice with making out scents,” Tallstar suddenly said, halting.

    “Er-” Firepaw mumbled, “Making out scents? How?”

    “Just open your mouth- taste the air. What is there?”

    Firepaw did as instructed, opening his jaws and sucking in some air. He closed his mouth, and frowned, trying to individualize the scents from all around him.

    “So, what do you smell?” Tallstar asked with a raised brow.

    “WindClan cats, of course. I can also smell other cats… I assume RiverClan cats.” Tallstar nodded at this, urging Firepaw to continue on. “Er- I can smell something similar to what I assume is fish. I can smell- Ergh, it’s vile- What, fox? It’s stale, though. And... “ he paused, “A rabbit. Maybe two. They don’t seem super close by, though.” He looked towards his mentor, waiting for his approval.

    Tallstar nodded, a phantom of a smile appearing on his muzzle. Deadfoot also nodded.

    “We will be going to the ShadowClan border now.” Tallstar indicated they go to the left, and began walking, with Deadfood close behind. Their apprentices both hurried after them, not wanting to get left behind.

    Meanwhile, while they were walking, Deadfoot began speaking. “The place we’re walking by- Fourtrees- will have a selected group of cats gather every full moon.

    “Although you may not be picked to go next moon, it is a place for the Clans to share news in peace, and fighting is strictly forbidden during that night.”

    Firepaw nodded silently. A thought suddenly came to his mind- _What if I saw Greypaw during a gathering? And I’d undoubtedly see Bluestar, since she's ThunderClan's leader, but I don’t know if she’d notice or recognize me._ He quickly dismissed the thought, however, padding after the other cats.

    Although it wasn’t very easy to see, a clearing in the middle of four gigantic trees was visible behind various other bushes and shrubs. He couldn't quite tell how large the clearing was or if anything else was in it, though he assumed it was large, considering that it had to fit many cats from all four of the Clans inside of it.

    He watched it pass by, wondering when he’d get picked to go, if he would. It would certainly be interesting seeing cats from each of the Clans, including each leader. He silently wondered what each of them were like as he carried on.

    Not long after passing Fourtrees, the strong smell of pine and another vile scent- cat?- hit Firepaw’s nose. He recoiled with disgust, taking a few steps backwards.

    Deadfoot and Tallstar turned around, and Deadfoot gestured towards the pine forest before them. “This is ShadowClan territory. Usually we try not to come to close to the border unless we have a full patrol with us as well, but this is an exception.” He sighed. “We didn’t want to take more warriors off duty- we don’t have many in the first place.”

    Firepaw could only nod in understanding before seeing Tallstar gesture Onepaw and him forward.

    “Firepaw picked out scents back at the RiverClan border- can you do the same here?” The leader was looking at Onepaw with a questioning gaze.

    Onepaw nodded, eyes expressing his determination. He quickly opened his mouth to taste the air, “I… there’s ShadowClan’s scent, of course. WindClan scent. Some sort of… squirrel. Probably from ShadowClan’s territory.” He paused, frowning. “I can also smell what I think is a sparrow, but it’s stale…” he trailed off, before speaking again. “And… that’s it.”

    Deadfoot nodded in approval, while Tallstar continued to walk along the border, pleased with the other apprentice's report.

    It was a long and tiring process, walking all around the territory, and Firepaw and Onepaw for the most part didn’t speak to each other, as they didn’t have much to talk about. The two stayed silent, as well as the other two in the front, up until Firepaw spotted something in the distance.

    Whatever it was, it looked… odd. Very, very odd. There was a large cliffside, with a large, gaping hole—perhaps an entrance?—in the middle of it. He frowned, staring at it for a few moments before padding up to stand beside his mentor. “What’s that?” he asked, voice still quiet from being used to the long silence. He gestured toward the cliffside with his tail.

    Tallstar looked up, scanning the area that Firepaw had pointed out before nodding, “A reasonable question. That gives me a chance to explain something.”

    Tallstar began to change the direction they were walking in so they were now approaching the cliff. They stopped as the neared the edge of a road—or whatever the Clan cats' term for it was—though not so close that they were able to smell it's foul stench. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any cars around, so they were safe to talk without any disturbances.

    “That there is Mothermouth. We go there to interact with our ancestors from StarClan.”

    Firepaw frowned in confusion. “StarClan?” He had heard a few cats mention it several times, yet he was still confused as to what it meant.

    Tallstar nodded. “Every time a Clan cat dies, they will go to StarClan, and a new star-” he pointed up at the faint stars that had just begun to appear in the sky- “will be added to Silverpelt. Silverpelt are the stars that you see in the night sky, and the StarClan warriors watch over us from there, to make sure we always do the right thing and follow the warrior code properly.”

    Firepaw cocked his head, still staring at the ground in doubt, but he didn’t object to any of Tallstar’s claims.

    “So- what you’re saying is—” He frowned, finding it difficult to understand. “—that whenever a cat dies, they just… become a star?”

    “In a way, yes,” the leader muttered. “Though they’re less physical once they are up there, and their memories and experiences make them able to continue in another realm. In Mothermouth, the cave over there, we are able to connect and communicate with them, even if they have already passed on. Medicine cats and occasionally leaders are sometimes able to do this without the Moonstone inside, but otherwise we always use it for communication with our ancestors.

    “In fact, you’ll be going to Mothermouth in a moon or so yourself. It’s part of the Clan tradition for all cats to do so during their apprenticeship.”

    Firepaw nodded, but still felt doubtful about the claims. He didn't say anything about them, though. He didn't want to sound rude for questioning the Clans' beliefs, even if he was a bit confused about them.

    Glancing back, he realized that Deadfoot and Onepaw had already left, and he looked at Tallstar with a confused expression.

    “Onepaw has already been taught these things as a kit,” he explained. "Every Clan cat is."

    Firepaw nodded, before yawning. His mind was spinning with all of the new information he had learned today; it would definitely take a while for him to memorize all of this new stuff. “Will we be going back to camp? I believe I understand… at least better.”

    Tallstar nodded, looking at the sky with a blank expression, “Yes, we can go back to camp. You've learned a lot today, Firepaw.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Chapter 6 will be out very soon!
> 
> (Commenting is always welcome and encouraged!)


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back!

#  CHAPTER SIX

 

By the time Firepaw had left the apprentice’s den, Tallstar was waiting patiently by the camp entrance. His back was straight, and he had one paw to his muzzle that he was licking. It was not until Firepaw called out to him that Tallstar noticed him.

“Hey… Tallstar.” Firepaw muttered, voice fairly quiet.

The tom’s head lifted up, and his amber eyes met Firepaw’s green ones. “Ah, Firepaw,” he said, rising from his spot and padding over to his apprentice. “We should set out now. Only a limited amount of time in the day.”

When Firepaw nodded, not saying a word, Tallstar turned around, and sprinted out of the camp. Firepaw’s fur fluffed up slightly in surprise, before he began to run after his mentor.

It was Firepaw's first official day of real training, and Tallstar had offered to start off with some basic hunting techniques. The apprentice didn't mind—after all, hunting  _ was _ one of the most important things in Clan life, and he wanted to learn how to contribute to helping his fellow Clanmates as soon as possible.

The two cats were on their own today—most warriors were out on their own patrols or training their own apprentices—that is, if they had one of their own—so Tallstar had taken this moment to begin one on one training with his apprentice, starting with hunting.

It looked fairly nice outside, with the morning sun burning in the sky and the occasional breeze. The day was pretty young, with  a slight pinkish tinge still to the sky.

The leader had stopped a few ways away from the camp when Firepaw had caught up to him, trying to hide some of his deeper breaths. It would certainly take a while for him to get used to running as fast as the other WindClan cats, that was for sure. The leader hummed thoughtfully, a patient look in his eyes.

“Do you smell it?” asked Tallstar, raising a brow, not providing the context.

Firepaw furrowed his brows in confusion, not responding. He took a sniff at the air, and squinted at Tallstar. “Er- do you mean the scent of rabbit?” he asked, trying to hide his nervousness. He didn’t want to be wrong and make a fool of himself already.

Tallstar nodded, pleased with his answer. “Do you know which direction it is from?”

Firepaw frowned, taking another sniff of the air, trying to catch the same scent before eventually muttering, “Er- to your right?”

The leader nodded in satisfaction, before flicking his tail in the direction the scent was coming from. “Go on. I want to see where your skill level is at,” he mewed, sitting down and preparing to see how his apprentice would fare.

Firepaw frowned, trying to push away the thoughts of how many ways his first hunt could fail. He inhaled, exhaled, and decided to just get it over with.

He padded after the scent, feeling his mentor’s amber gaze focused on him.  _ I can’t be stupid with this. I need to stay focused. _

When he knew that the mentor was most likely just a few tail-lengths away, he crouched. He crawled forward, the tall grasses around him shifting in his path. Now the rabbit was in view.

Its nose was twitching, and it held something in it’s paws that Firepaw couldn’t quite make out, the grass slightly obscuring his view from how low he was. Something that Firepaw noticed was that its ears were pricked, beady eyes looking around. A sign of alertness. He dismissed it and continued on with his hunt.

Crawling a few steps forward, he waited until the rabbit was distracted just enough before he leapt out. Before he could land his paws on it, the rabbit had already darted away into the tall grasses. Firepaw ducked his head and flattened his ears in embarrassment, knowing that his mentor would probably show up to scold him on something he had done wrong soon.

Said scolding never came. Rather, he felt a tail on his shoulder for a few moments, and slowly turned to see Tallstar, his amber eyes warm with sympathy.

“You’d be an excellent hunter in ThunderClan,” the tom murmured, “But we’re not in ThunderClan.”

At Firepaw’s confused expression, he continued with his explanation. “You used a similar technique that the cats in ThunderClan use. More specifically, stalking up on your prey before leaping out at them. This is a good technique for  _ them _ , however, in our territory, there is very little keeping you from getting seen or scented. You don’t have the cover of bushes and trees.” He paused, before continuing. “Along with this, the grasses are fairly tall, so your prey might see the shifting of grass, and get alerted of your presence. And once your prey is ready to flee, it is very difficult to catch it through stealth and leaping.

“Because of this, we normally do something more… straightforward. Of course, you don’t immediately run after a scent the moment it hits your nose; however, once you can tell they are near, you begin running. I can show you an example.”

While Firepaw was trying to soak in the information that had been told to him, Tallstar padded away and disappeared into the tall grasses. He tried to catch up with him, but made sure to keep a sizeable distance away from him, as he guessed he would be catching something. He didn't want to screw his mentor's own hunt up, so he simply sat down on the grass, keeping his eyes trained on the older tom.

He could make out Tallstar crouching in the grass, his long tail still, and moving slow.  _ He’s barely interrupting the grass _ , Firepaw noted to himself, studying the older cat’s posture to try and memorize it.

Suddenly, just as Firepaw saw a light grey rabbit in the corner of his eyes, Tallstar became a blur. The tom quickly shot at the rabbit, and Firepaw ran as fast as he could after him, trying to watch. Eventually, the sound of Tallstar’s footsteps ceased, and he padded over to see his mentor with a limp rabbit in his jaws. He placed the prey down, beginning to bury it. Firepaw couldn’t help but notice the odd motion of his paw that he seemed to use to bury it, but quickly pushed the thought away.

“Were you able to observe?” Tallstar looked up at Firepaw.

Firepaw nodded. “Yes- er, well, at least mostly.”

“And you remember what I told you?” At Firepaw’s nod, he continued. “Very well. With a new idea in mind for how to do this, you can attempt this again.” He waved his tail, signaling for the apprentice to try again and act on his own. "Keep in mind to also stay downwind of the prey, so that they don't end up scenting you and running away. Sometimes, it can be hard to chase down prey that has noticed you first and has the upper hand, especially if you are hunting on your own."

Firepaw nervously nodded once more, opening his mouth to taste the air. When he scented another hare nearby, and saw Tallstar nod, he shifted through the grasses in the direction of the prey scent. After a few moments, he could finally spot the hare he had smelled, eyes locking onto it.

He crouched down, trying to remember what he had seen Tallstar doing.  _ Don’t disturb the grasses _ , he thought to himself. He tried to avoid stirring the grass by any means necessary, and he also made himself into a rounder shape as he had seen Tallstar do, so he could slip through the grass more efficiently.

He could tell that the hare was very close, and directly in front of him. Remembering Tallstar’s words, he shot forward, paws barely touching the grass. He saw the rabbit jolt away, but he just went faster in pursuit.  _ This is like what I used to do in my dreams.  _ The thought went in and out of his head, as he put full concentration on shooting after the small animal. 

Springing himself with his hind legs, he slammed into the hare, curling his claws around the small creature. Before it had a chance to escape his grip, Firepaw snapped its neck with a twitch of his paw.

His eyes brightened, and he couldn't help but grin widely.  _ I actually got it! _

Hearing pawsteps, he looked up to see Tallstar, who had a half-smile on his face.

“Very good job, Firepaw,” he praised, nodding to the hare that was still underneath the apprentice's paws.“It looks like it will be enough to feed a cat or two as well." His eyes met Firepaw's. "I must say, as someone who just joined the Clan only a few days ago, you're learning very quickly."

Firepaw ducked his head at the praise, a smile growing on his face. "Thank you, Tallstar," he meowed.

The WindClan leader nodded, pointing his tail towards the hare. "You can bury that here," he mewed, "and then once we're all finished for the day, you can come back to collect it."

Firepaw nodded, feeling warm with the feeling he had finally done the thing he had dreamed about for who knows how long. Before he could respond to his mentor, he spoke again.

“Using the technique you just used, continue to try to hunt.” It was a simple request, but the thought of it still made Firepaw nervous, and even though he had successfully caught something, that was only once. He worried that might just have been a spur of luck.

Firepaw finished burying his first catch, and afterwards, he ran a few tail lengths forward, making sure to scent the air as he did so. He halted in his tracks as he caught scent of another rabbit, trying to pinpoint where the prey scent was coming from.

_ There! _

__ A few tail lengths away was another rabbit, absentmindedly hopping and occasionally gnawing on a few stalks of grass. He took a few steps forward, thankful that he was downwind of the prey so that he wouldn't be scented. As he neared the rabbit, he waited the right moment and then darted forward, paws outstretched.

The rabbit's head shot up, now noticing his movements and being able to scent him. It turned tail and fled across the moor, but that urged Firepaw to pick up a burst of speed in order to catch up with the rabbit. When he got close enough, he lunged at the prey, snapping its neck once it was struggling under his paws. Within a few moments, the rabbit went limp, and the apprentice stood up, pleased with his catch.

_ Two catches in one day!  _ He smiled to himself.  _ I'm one step closer to becoming a true WindClan cat. _

 

\---

 

After a few more attempts at catching prey, Firepaw had come out with two rabbits and one hare. He considered it a good amount, especially considering how it was only his first time out hunting, and he was on his own as well. Tallstar had also done some hunting while Firepaw was busy, managing to catch a few rabbits of his own. 

The two were padding in the direction of camp, the prey they had caught that day in their jaws and the chilly feel in the air from the breeze making Firepaw fluff up his fur. He saw a slightly bothered look on Tallstar’s face, and considering how the tom had such short fur, he could guess it was about the cold as well.

“Hey,” said Firepaw, momentarily setting down his prey and keeping his voice slightly quiet. He wanted to start up some sort of conversation as they walked. “I remember you or Deadfoot talking about… a Gathering at that Fourtrees place. Yesterday.”

The leader nodded, doing the same as Firepaw when he spoke. “Yes. I don’t believe you were able to witness the last time I selected which cats would be going go, although it was fairly recently.” He paused. “I’m surprised Onepaw hadn’t explained it to before yesterday.” The larger tom hummed thoughtfully, picking up his prey and picking up his pace slightly, no doubt wanting to head back to his warm den.

Firepaw frowned, trying to think. “I… do believe he mentioned it at one point. I’m not sure. Anyway,” he said, switching the topic of the Gathering to what he had meant to ask. “I’m fairly sure that… er… you can’t tell me who is going. But- when is the next one…?”

“It’s actually in about another moon,” the leader meowed. “The last one we went to was fairly recent, and it’s strictly under a full moon.”

Firepaw nodded, silently hoping he would be able to go. He was Tallstar’s apprentice, right? Surely warriors would usually brought their apprentices along…

“Has the half moon medicine cat ritual been explained to you?” Tallstar suddenly butted into his thoughts.

“Oh- erm- no. I don’t believe so.”

He nodded. “It wouldn’t really affect you, but just as something that might clear up confusion in the future.” He paused. “Every half moon, the medicine cats from every Clan gather at Mothermouth in order to speak with StarClan.

“It’s a sort of… check up with StarClan. It is believed that that night is the night where we connect most strongly with StarClan, and that the Moonstone is where StarClan is the clearest in its visions.”

Firepaw nodded in understanding, but didn’t respond. He could see the camp was growing larger in the distance, meaning they’d be getting back soon. 

“Onepaw taught you the individual rules from the code, correct?” Tallstar asked after a few more moments of silence.

Firepaw nodded, particularly remembering the last one.  _ A cat in any Clan rejects the soft life of a kittypet _ . It really would be against the most set rules in the Clan to do anything that would mark him as kittypet-like.

By now they had reached the camp, which, like usual, was bustling with activity, especially now that it was getting a bit late. He could see Runningpaw talking to Onepaw, the latter’s head turning as Firepaw walked into camp alongside his mentor.

Firepaw followed Tallstar to the prey pile, and after seeing Tallstar place down the prey he had caught, Firepaw did the same.

“You can go ahead and eat your first catch,” Tallstar murmured, padding away. “Think of it as a sort of celebration for what you accomplished today. Be ready to get up early for more training,” he  added, and afterwards he vanished into his den, a piece of prey he would probably be eating in his jaws.

Firepaw turned away from Tallstar to see Onepaw standing patiently, before he spoke. “Is that your first catch?" he mewed, circling around his friend.

Firepaw nodded, and couldn’t help but smile as he placed his catch down. “Yeah. I managed to catch three pieces of prey.”

Onepaw grinned, “Good job!” he continued, “On my first hunt I couldn’t catch squat. I’m surprised that Deadfoot hadn’t taken me to Tallstar and announced that I wouldn’t ever be able to hunt for the Clan.”

Firepaw chuckled at his friend, taking a bite of the rabbit that he had caught. “Oh come on, he’d never do that.” Onepaw rolled his eyes. “Wanna share this?” He gestured towards the rabbit with his tail.

Onepaw nodded, sitting beside Firepaw, “I hunted earlier, but Deadfoot never said anything about me eating. So… er… I didn’t eat.” 

“Oh come on, you know Deadfoot isn’t strict enough that he wouldn’t let you eat after hunting.”

“I know him better than you!” Onepaw retorted, and Firepaw had to admit that he had a point.

Firepaw took a few more bites of the rabbit, still with a bit of awe at how much of an improvement it was to his old food.

After he had had enough of the prey, he pushed the rest of it over to Onepaw and watched him finish the rabbit. Firepaw glanced at the apprentice’s den. “I suppose we should go rest.”

“Yeah,” Onepaw agreed, “I was going to rest earlier before Runningpaw decided to insist on telling me about some ‘fox den’ she saw.” He rolled his eyes. “Probably just a rabbit den with a large family. Or an abandoned one.”

“Did she check if there was fresh fox scent?” Firepaw raised a brow.

“Apparently, but she didn’t specify if it was fresh or stale.” The young tom snorted, “She’s just hiding from the truth.”

Firepaw just rolled his eyes, before heading in the direction of the apprentice’s den. Onepaw quickly skidded after him. “But what if there was actually a fox on our territory?”

Firepaw shrugged. “I guess the warriors would just drive it out. It wouldn’t be too much of an issue,” he meowed as he entered the apprentice’s den, heading for his nest.

Onepaw sat down in his nest, turning to Firepaw to keep their conversation going. “So, how is Clan life so far?” he mewed, changing the subject. 

Firepaw couldn’t help but smile, laying down in his nest with his head on his paws. “It’s actually really lovely. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Onepaw smirked. “Careful there, Firepaw. You sound like some sort of hopeless cat who’s in love.”

Firepaw sputtered, choking on nothing. “I’m talking about a  _ Clan _ ! You’re just grasping at straws to tease me.”

“So I guess WindClan is the lucky molly.”

Firepaw huffed, rolling his eyes and laying down, refusing to respond.

Onepaw thwacked Firepaw with his paw gently before laying in his nest, yawning. “Really though, I’m glad you enjoy Clan life.”

Firepaw was silent for a few moments. “Yeah. I wasn’t happy as a kittypet. I’m glad I found WindClan.”

Onepaw glanced at him, looking like he was about to say something, a smirk on his face again. Before he could speak, though, Firepaw thwacked him in the muzzle with his paw before turning around in his nest, wanting to get as much sleep as he possibly could.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoyed.
> 
> (Commenting always welcome and encouraged!)


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the slight delay, but here's chapter 7! enjoy!

It had been about a moon since Firepaw had joined the Clan.

It was safe to say that he was fitting in well with the Clan. A few of the warriors still sometimes looked at him oddly, but no one ever said a rude thing about him—at least, not to his face. Tallstar had also been training him well, with most of the training thus far having been hunting techniques, though his mentor was beginning to show him some basic battle moves.

The bright orange apprentice was chatting with Onepaw outside the apprentice’s den, when they were suddenly interrupted. Firepaw hadn’t noticed Tallstar approaching until he spoke. “Firepaw.”

Firepaw’s fur fluffed up in surprise, and he turned around, also seeing Onepaw do the same. “Er- yes, Tallstar?”

The older tom glanced at Onepaw for a moment, before turning his gaze to stay on Firepaw’s. “We will be traveling to Mothermouth now. You recall me telling you about the journey there, yes?”

He did remember, on that very first day he had explored the territory. He remembered the large, gaping hole on the cliffside, and now he would be able to see what was waiting for him on the other side. “Yes. N… now?” It was sudden, and also unexpected, as he hadn’t been told of this previously.

He nodded. “We will also be accompanied by Tornear and his apprentice, Runningpaw. She hasn’t had this journey yet, but she is already aware of it.” He paused. “Please go get Runningpaw, and meet me and Tornear at the medicine den.”

With that, the large tom turned around, leaving the two apprentices alone and heading towards the medicine den.

Firepaw glanced at Onepaw, who had an amused expression. “Have fun. I already did it. Spoiler alert, it is actually a bit boring. But maybe Runningpaw will make it less boring.” He turned around, padding over to where Webpaw was, sitting a few tail-lengths away, grooming himself.

Firepaw sighed, glancing over to the apprentice’s den. He got up, padding inside the familiar den. Runningpaw was sitting in her normal nest, seemingly dozing.

“Hey, Runningpaw.” Firepaw gently nudged her.

The molly startled, looking as if she might jump, before seeing Firepaw. “Oh! Er- hello Firepaw. What is it?”

“Tallstar said to get you. We’ll be travelling to Mothermouth now.”

A flash of recognition went in the molly’s gaze, before she nodded, getting up. “I was informed on that a few days ago.”

She padded out of the den with Firepaw following close behind. “Did they also tell you some days ago? I thought you would bring it up, but you never did.”

The tom shook his head, heading towards the medicine den. “No, they only just told me. I knew I would be going at some point, but I had no clue when.” He looked down at his paws. "I... didn't expect it to be  _ this _ early, though."

They arrived at the den. “It’s a bit late in apprenticeship for me to go, but I still have to go.” She shrugged. "At least I won't have to go alone, though."

The two entered the den, seeing Tallstar, Tornear, and Barkface. Tallstar and Tornear seemed to be having idle chat, while Barkface was checking a few bunches of herbs.

Tallstar turned to look at the two. “Wonderful. You are here.” He flicked his tail at the separated bunches of herbs that Barkface was looking through. “We will be taking these herbs, and then setting off.”

Firepaw nodded, curiosity growing inside of him as he stared at Barkface working. "What are these herbs for?"

It was Tornear who spoke up next—the warrior had gotten more used to him ever since their first meeting, and while they weren't extremely close or perfectly friendly with each other, they still respected one another. They  _ were _ Clanmates, after all. "Travelling herbs. They will boost our strength for the journey ahead, and it's a good compromise to eating prey as well, since eating or hunting along the way is strictly forbidden."

Firepaw nodded again, sitting back on his haunches with Runningpaw doing the same next to him. As he was about to get lost in his thoughts about what he was going to see or what the journey was going to be like, Barkface suddenly pushed some herb poultices on a large leaf in front of both of the apprentices. "You'll need to eat those," he murmured before turning away to presumably get some more work done.

Seeing Runningpaw lean down to eat the herbs, Firepaw did the same. He was surprised by the taste, recoiling a bit from it. He frowned, trying to force it down. Probably seeing his expression, Runningpaw spoke. “Yeah, it really is bad,” she murmured, but seemed amused at Firepaw’s reaction. “But hey, we need it.”

Firepaw sighed, muttering, “I guess.”

He forced down the rest of the herbs, trying to get rid of the vile taste remaining in his mouth. After he finished, he looked up to see Tallstar waiting patiently, with Tornear doing the same. The former nodded at the two apprentices, flicking his tail at the medicine cat in farewell before leaving the den, Tornear close behind.

Seeing Runningpaw follow them, Firepaw did the same.

It was time to actually go.

 

\---

 

The stars had begun to glimmer in the dark sky, and Tornear was in the front, with Tallstar padding alongside the two apprentice. He began to speak.

“We are making this journey to the Moonstone to truly connect you two to StarClan. For Runningpaw, she has only been able to be watched by her ancestors, so now is the time she can actually respond and communicate with her ancestors. As for Firepaw,” he signaled to the tom with a flick of his tail, “Because he lived as a kittypet for a while, now is the time he can show that he is truly a Clan member through connection to StarClan.”

Firepaw nodded, and saw Runningpaw do the same. He still wasn’t completely sure if he believed in StarClan, but perhaps tonight would be the deciding night. 

Seeing Tallstar pad ahead to walk beside Tornear, Firepaw turned his head to look at Runningpaw. “Are you excited to go to the Moonstone?” He cocked his head.

She shrugged. “I suppose. It  _ is  _ an honor, but…” she frowned, trailing off for a few moments, “From what I have heard, the communication is very… vague. I’ve heard it described as boring even by some warriors.”

Firepaw nodded. “Yeah… Onepaw said it was. But who knows, I guess it just depends on who is doing this. What, isn’t it like… a dream that you get?”

The light grey molly nodded. “Yeah, I believe so. You fall asleep, and then StarClan will contact you. Or not. But I’m pretty sure it’s rare they’d just… ignore you. When you’re at the Moonstone, I mean.”

Firepaw was about to respond when Tornear spoke. “We’re near the Thunderpath.”

Firepaw frowned in confusion, but didn’t say anything. He saw Tallstar nod. Beside him, he saw Runningpaw shiver. What was the deal?

He saw Tallstar signal that Runningpaw and himself walk beside him. The two padded beside him, and Firepaw could see a road that they seemed to be approaching.

“What’s- what’s a Thunderpath? The- the road?”

“The long, black line before us.” Tallstar nodded at the road.

“Oh.” So they called roads Thunderpaths.

“It’s very dangerous,” Tornear meowed. “Monsters pass on it.”

_ Monsters? Do they mean cars? _

Firepaw shrugged. “Not from my experience…”

Tornear glanced at him with a speculative gaze. “Hmmm?”

“When I lived in twolegplace, there were a ton of roads- I mean- Thunderpaths. So they don’t really scare me anymore.”

"You were probably just lucky to cross those Thunderpaths unscathed," muttered Tornear. "Usually, a few monsters pass through here per day. For what, I don't know, but it's not like it matters to us."

Firepaw studied the street. “There doesn't seem to be much...” he muttered, doubt evident in his voice. "I can't see any monsters,"

Tornear seemed like he was about to retort, before Tallstar interrupted him. “I’m not surprised. There are, of course, a lot more twolegs.”

Tornear spoke after an annoyed pause. “I suppose…”

“Regardless,” Tallstar spoke again, “We should still be careful.”

Firepaw nodded, and they all approached the dark strip. Glancing to the sides, he ran forward, but it was more of a jog.

He heard a shocked noise from Runningpaw as he crossed the street, getting to the other side. He turned around to see a faintly surprised look on Tallstar’s face, and an angry one on Tornear’s.

“What was that about?” Tornear snapped, flattening his ears. “You’re supposed to go only when we signal!”

Tallstar nodded. “This is true. Please wait for a signal next time, Firepaw.”

Firepaw frowned, glancing to the side with shame. He watched the rest of the patrol run across the Thunderpath after Tallstar gave the signal.  _ It wasn't  _ that _ bad though, was it? _ he thought as the patrol took a moment to catch their breath and, afterwards, continuing onwards towards Mothermouth.

They all headed towards the gaping entrance in the cliffside, and he felt Runningpaw shiver beside him. 

“Nervous?” He asked in a whisper. To her nod, Firepaw responded. “Me too.”

They stopped at the entrance. “From here on out, you will not talk. You will only be able to once we leave the cave,” Tallstar ordered.

Firepaw nodded, before following Tallstar into the cave. It was dark, incredibly dark. He couldn’t see a thing. It also seemed to be very narrow, as he could feel the stone brushing against his flank. “It’s really d-”

He was cut off immediately by a quiet hiss from Tallstar, and he ducked his head in shame. Continuing through the dark hallway, he found himself bumping into walls. Luckily, it seemed there was only one way he could go, so he couldn’t get lost. He could also hear the gentle breathing and soft pawsteps on the hard stone from Tallstar in front of him and Runningpaw behind him.

Eventually, after a bit of walking through this dark tunnel, he could see a bright light. He followed Tallstar into a larger room, with a large white stone placed in the middle. He briefly turned around and saw Runningpaw and Tornear enter the room as well.

The stone was being hit by what seemed to be moonlight from a hole in the ceiling, and it was shockingly bright, especially from the constant darkness from the last few minutes. Firepaw had to squint his eyes for a few moments in order to adjust to the almost blinding light.

But he couldn't take his eyes off of it. It was… mesmerizing, almost. He didn’t even know how it could shine so brightly.  _ So this is what the Moonstone is. _ Needless to say, he was impressed.  _ No wonder this stone is important to the Clans... _

He saw Tallstar gesture that him and Runningpaw go to the stone. Seeing her lay down next to it, he did the same. 

He watched Runningpaw close her eyes, and press her nose to the stone. She almost immediately had all of her limbs seem to loosen.  _ Is she asleep? _

He turned his head to look at the stone, before doing what she had done. He pressed his nose to the bright stone, and almost recoiled. The coldness seemed to coarse through him like a bloodstream, or maybe a lightning bolt. However, before he could think about it, a heavy feeling of drowsiness took over. Everything went black.

 

\---

 

He opened his eyes to something… odd. Not bad, necessarily, but odd.

The first thing he could see was another cat- a molly? He couldn’t really tell from the blurry features visible. She seemed to be laying beside him, and from what he could tell, her eyes were closed. She was a pale, sandy color, and looked older than Firepaw.

His eyes flickered down to see two more cats- except these two were a lot smaller. Kits. 

The two were sleeping, blurry shapes. One was a brown color, with what seemed to be a white chest and paws, while the other a bright orange, similar to Firepaw’s coat.

He felt a confused surge of energy- Was this the right dream? Who was this molly? Who were these kits? Could they somehow be his?

Before he could think more about it, everything blurred more. It had been very vague and blurry before, but now nothing was visible. And then it focused. Not completely, though. It was still blurry.

There were three new figures, all seeming to be adults. They reminded him of cats he knew…

One, curled up and pressed against Firepaw, was a blurry grey figure. From what he could see, they were asleep, their flank rising and falling.

Another figure was also there. They were brown, and were standing near Firepaw, who seemed to be in a laying position next to the grey figure.

And, finally, there was another figure, this one a black and white- probably tom?

Firepaw couldn’t clearly see his eyes, but from what he could tell, they were a yellow- amber? Color. They seemed so oddly warm.

Firepaw glanced around the figures that surrounded him, and couldn’t help but feel a feeling of- what was it- comfort- sink into him. Everything felt so warm, ordinary, like this was how he wanted it.

But he still couldn’t even exactly pinpoint who these figures were, although they did seem much more familiar than the molly and the kits.

But then everything blurred, and went black again.

 

\---

 

He woke up with a small gasp in the same room, with the large, shining stone still in front of him. He glanced around, seeing the rest of the three seemingly waiting patiently.

He could assume that Runningpaw had woke before him, and was now waiting next to her mentor.

Seeing him wake, Tallstar beckoned Firepaw over. He nodded, and flicked his tail towards the entrance.  _ It’s time to leave. _


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, but we're back now!

For most of the way back, Runningpaw and Firepaw had been quiet, so Firepaw decided to start some sort of conversation.

“Er- if it’s not too personal- what was- what was your dream about?” He didn't know if talking about your Moonstone dreams was against the code or wrong or anything, but he was a bit curious nonetheless.

The molly seemed surprised at being addressed, but she turned her head to look at Firepaw. Her gaze was thoughtful, as if she was thinking about telling him.

“I saw my mothers,” she mewed after a pause.

Firepaw waited to see if she would continue, and when she didn’t he murmured, “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head, “No, I’m glad I saw them. It’s been awhile.” He could see a small smile on her face.

Firepaw nodded, staying silent.

“What about… about yours?”

He jumped in surprise. “Er, mine?”

“Yeah. Your dream.” Runningpaw cocked her head, “If it’s- not too personal, of course.”

“It was… just… weird, actually,” he murmured, “At first it had weird unfamiliar cats… and then more familiar-looking cats came along.”

Runningpaw hummed quietly. “I’m sure it means something.”

“Maybe…” The tom was doubtful.

As they walked, Firepaw glanced up to look at Tornear and Tallstar. And as he watched his mentor, something suddenly hit him.

_ And, finally, there was another figure, this one a black and white- probably tom? _

_ Firepaw couldn’t clearly see his eyes, but from what he could tell, they were a yellow- amber? color. They seemed so oddly warm. _

He studied the older tom, frowning. Surely not. That wouldn’t even make sense… wasn’t he speaking with StarClan? Tallstar wasn’t in StarClan. He was standing right there in front of him.

He sighed, and saw Runningpaw give him a curious look. He just dismissively flicked his tail.  _ It doesn't really matter right now. I can always try and figure out what it means later. _

After padding through the field for a bit longer, Tallstar abruptly stopped, and signaled for the others to do the same. Firepaw looked up at his mentor, curiosity flooding his thoughts.  _ Why are we stopping? _

“While we’re here—” Tallstar signalled to the fields surrounding them, as well as the barn in the not-so-far distance, “—we may as well hunt. Tornear, take your apprentice. I will work with Firepaw.”

Tornear nodded, cutting off from the trail that they had been traveling along, with Runningpaw following close behind.

Tallstar beckoned Firepaw, to which the young tom padded to be beside his mentor. “What can you currently smell? Prey-wise, at least.”

Firepaw tilted his head up, opening his jaws and tasted the air. He closed his mouth, frowning with uncertainty at the leader.

“Well, I do smell a rabbit or two…” he trailed off, glancing around. “There’s cat smell- unfamiliar cat smell. Er- do you- know what that is? Is it- is it some other Clan’s territory?”

Tallstar blinked, evidently confused, before his eyes flashed, and he nodded. “No, it's not another Clan cat, but there is another cat that lives near here. A loner lives in that barn over there.” He flicked his tail at the large house in the distance. “He doesn’t attack, or at least never has. You can just ignore it.”

Firepaw nodded in understanding, before focusing more on the scent of rabbit. “We seem to be downwind of a rabbit…” he said slowly, reciting what he had been told. He looked up at his mentor. “Should I go after it?”

Tallstar nodded, lowering his voice, probably not to frighten any prey. “I want to observe your current hunting skills.”

Firepaw nodded, trying to hone in on the scent of the prey he had previously smelled. After taking a few steps forward, his eyes locked on a small rabbit, hopping through the stalks of grass.  _ This can be a chance to practice my hunting skills more, _ he thought as he crept closer to the prey, thankful that he was downwind of it.

As he got close enough to the prey, Firepaw shot forward, aiming straight for the rabbit he was after. Immediately noticing him, the rabbit began to dart away from its place, but Firepaw had grown faster since he had arrived in WindClan. Within a few moments, the rabbit was lying limp underneath him, its neck having been snapped cleanly. He took a few deep breaths before turning to Tallstar, who was watching him carefully. After a pause, the black and white tom padded up to his apprentice, nodding in approval at the catch Firepaw had made.

"Well done," he said, eyes glowing with a bit of pride. "You're becoming a fine hunter, Firepaw."

Firepaw dipped his head. “Thank you.” He paused, frowning, “Any critiques?”

The leader nodded. “I want you to really focus on your first lunge more- it is very important. Arguably the most.” He paused, and Firepaw nodded. “You need to be able to do another lunge- or continue running- the moment you hit the ground. If your paws are too far tucked under your belly, or too far out, you may slip. Luckily, you did not, but I could tell you didn’t put too much thought into it.”

Firepaw blinked a few times, comprehending what he had just heard, before dipping his head. “Yes, I understand, Tallstar.” He paused, “I can scent another rabbit nearby- should I try and get it? With- with applying what you’ve just told me, of course.”

Tallstar nodded, flicking his tail in the direction that he had probably smelled the rabbit as well. “Go for it.”

Firepaw turned away and tasted the air, and upon scenting the rabbit, he padded after the scent. He ducked into the tall grasses, the scent growing stronger and stronger as he went pawstep by pawstep closer.

He saw the small creature come into view, and with his mentor’s words in mind, he sprung using his back legs. But just as he was about to crunch his teeth into the rabbit’s spine, he saw a flash of brown fur.

He yelped in surprise as he was pushed back, and stumbled onto his paws. He tensed, looking around for just a split second before realizing.

Just before him, Runningpaw was sitting and rubbing her head with one paw. The rabbit was nowhere in sight.

Firepaw blinked in surprise, before realizing what must have happened. They had probably gone after the same rabbit.

To Firepaw’s surprise, Runningpaw chuckled. “Wow, that sure was a successful team hunt, huh?”

Firepaw opened his mouth and closed it for a moment, before laughing as well. “Very well executed.”

The two couldn’t laugh for long, however, because Tallstar’s larger shape appeared in the corner of Firepaw’s eyes.

He tensed as Tallstar spoke. “Actually, it was not very well executed.” He turned to Firepaw. “Always remember to scent if there are any  _ cats  _ nearby, alright?” His tone was stern, but not cold.

Firepaw nodded, “Understood, I’m sorry.”

Tallstar sighed, before shaking his head. “Before you bumped into Runningpaw , you were doing very well.” He paused, “I did notice you took into account what I said.”

Runningpaw was shifting in her spot, and Firepaw hadn’t even noticed that Tornear had showed up, and was now muttering corrections to his apprentice. Tornear raised his head.

“Should we continue to the camp, now?” he asked, turning to Tallstar.

The black-and-white tom nodded, beginning to head out of the small clearing of grass. Firepaw skidded after him, with Tornear and Runningpaw in suit.

“Are the herbs wearing off?” Firepaw asked his mentor, frowning slightly. “I feel a bit tired.”

Tallstar nodded, not turning to him. “They should start to do that around this time.” He paused, “Go talk with Runningpaw, I wish to speak with Tornear.”

Firepaw nodded before slowing down his steps to fall into line with his fellow apprentice. He saw Tallstar do the same before the WindClan leader turned to Runningpaw's mentor, speaking to him in a low voice so that Firepaw and Runningpaw were unable to catch what they were saying.  _ Maybe it's about how we're doing on our apprenticeship,  _ Firepaw guessed.

Runningpaw turned her head to look at Firepaw as she watched, tilting her head and smiling in a hello. “Hey again.”

Firepaw nodded, licking his chest fur in embarrassment as he remembered his failed attempt at hunting. Judging from Runningpaw’s evasive gaze, he could guess she felt the same.

“What did you catch?” he mewed, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

She shrugged. “Before bumping-” Firepaw couldn’t help but think how literal that was- “-into you, just a sparrow. How about you?”

Firepaw hummed, thinking back to his hunt. “A rabbit.” He frowned, realizing something. “What happened to our catches? I don’t see you carrying yours…”

At the flick of Runningpaw’s tail in the direction of the two warriors in front of him, he saw the two were carrying the two apprentice’s catches. “Oh.”

Runningpaw laughed slightly, before looking at the sky, gaze becoming unfocused as she padded through the tall grasses. 

  
  


\---   
  


After what felt like days of walking, the patrol that had gone to the Moonstone arrived back at the camp.

The four cats padded into the familiar camp, Maplespring and Mudclaw, the two night guards, nodding at them as they entered. Firepaw wanted nothing more than to curl up in his nest and sleep, even though he had just done that not long ago at the Moonstone.

Tallstar and Tornear deposited their apprentices' prey in the prey pile, and Tallstar turned to the two apprentices, Tornear idling beside him. "I'll be giving you two the day off tomorrow. The Moonstone journey takes a lot out of you, so I want both of you well rested in order to continue your training."

Runningpaw dipped her head, and Firepaw followed her action. "Thank you, Tallstar," he meowed, and afterwards, Tallstar nodded before turning to head back into his den. Tornear headed towards the warriors' den, vanishing behind the walls that surrounded it.

Firepaw was thankful that he was being given a day to rest, though. As much as he liked training to be a warrior, it didn't seem all that appealing when he was half asleep and feeling as if his paws would fall off at any given moment.

Runningpaw was already padding off towards the apprentices' den, and Firepaw hurried after her, not wanting to be left behind.

As Firepaw arrived in the den, Runningpaw was turning in circles around her nest before settling down and closing her eyes. Webpaw was in his nest, already asleep. Onepaw was also in his nest, but unlike Webpaw, he wasn't asleep. His eyes brightened as Firepaw entered the den, though he didn't move from his nest.

Firepaw settled in his nest, mewing a greeting to his friend. "Why are you up this late?" he asked, shooting a look at the sky. Stars illuminated the night sky, and he could also see the shape of the moon overhead.

Onepaw shrugged. "Couldn't sleep," he mewed. "And, well, I also wanted to know how your journey to the Moonstone went."

Firepaw tilted his head for a few seconds, before shaking his fur.  _ How did I not predict this...  _

“So, how did it go?” Onepaw purred, tilting his head. "I guess, if you don't mind sharing, what was your dream about?"

Firepaw shrugged. “I dunno… Really confusing, actually.” Onepaw’s silence prompted him to continue. “It- like-” he wrinkled his snout, unsure how to describe it. “The dream I had started with some molly- or at least I think it was a molly- laying there. There was also a couple of kits. That only lasted for a few seconds.

“After that, they kind of… changed into different figures. Although I’ll admit, the second figures looked a lot more familiar.”

Onepaw tilted his head, looking intrigued, “Oh?”

“Yeah. It’s hard to place how I recognize- or at least sort of- them. I thought about it, and one of them looked similar to Tallstar. In fact…” he wrinkled his snout at the other tom.

“Huh?” Onepaw frowned, looking confused.

“You look like one of the cats. You have the same pelt color.”

Onepaw blinked, once, twice, before speaking. “Odd… it’s hard to believe that it’s a coincidence that two cats looking exactly like cats you know from StarClan popped up.”

Firepaw shrugged. “I don’t know, probably just StarClan being weird.”

Onepaw shrugged, ruffling his fur. “Most likely. Almost none of the dream stories I’ve heard from warriors and the other apprentices make sense.” He yawned. “We should probably be going to sleep, I guess.”

Firepaw sighed, resting his head on his paws. “Yeah.” He closed his eyes slightly. “I’m exhausted.”

He could sense Onepaw turning away, and that was the last thing he could remember from that night before spiraling into that all-familiar darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments are encouraged and appreciated!


	10. Chapter 9

The next morning, Firepaw awoke to Onepaw nudging him awake. The flame coloured tom blinked open his eyes before shooting a look at his friend, who also seemed tired, brown fur still ruffled from sleep.

"Is something going on?" he asked, stretching his tired limbs, stiff from just awakening. He rose to his paws, still a bit wobbly, and padded closer to the den’s entrance. He could see Tallstar sitting atop the Tallrock, with his tail curled neatly around his front paws. Other cats were beginning to gather around the rock, a crowd of multi-colored pelts, looking up expectantly at their leader.

Onepaw flicked his tail. "Tallstar's calling a Clan meeting," he mewed, "and you seemed like you were going to sleep in for half the day."

Firepaw's eyes glowed with curiosity, wondering what Tallstar was going to announce. He glanced at the large black and white tom. "What's it about?" he asked, beginning to pad out of the den to sit with the gathering crowd.

"You'll see," Onepaw replied, following after his friend.

The sun was rising in the distance, and the sky was mostly a light blue with tinges of oranges and pinks from the approaching sunlight. Now he could see that practically all the cats of WindClan were gathered. He saw a few cats gathered on the far edges of the camp near the dens: the elders were sitting closer to their dens than the crowd, though their ears were raised in order to hear what their leader was going to announce. Ashfoot and Eaglekit sat near the nursery entrance, and Morningflower was guiding Whitekit towards the crowd. The kit looked like she was around apprentice age, and she looked about as big as the other apprentices.

Firepaw saw the other apprentices gathered in a particular group around the side of the crowd, muttering amongst themselves, and he hurried to take a seat beside them, with Onepaw following close behind.

He glanced at Webpaw, who was licking his chest fur. “You have any idea what this is about?”

The apprentice merely shrugged, eyes trailing to rest on the leader, waiting patiently, for just a moment. “Either Whitekit is becoming an apprentice, or…” he looked down, mumbling to himself for a moment, “I dunno, some cat retiring to the elder’s den? I hear that Willowspot is pretty old.”

"None of us are ready to become warriors yet, that's for sure," Runningpaw added.

Before anyone could say anything else, Tallstar began speaking, silencing the crowd. "Today is a very special day in WindClan. New apprentices are always a blessing to us, and today, one of our kits will be joining their ranks." Tallstar's gaze shifted to Whitekit, who was staring at her leader with wide eyes. "Whitekit, please step forward."

_ Ah, so this is what this meeting is for, _ Firepaw thought. He eyed the small white molly, whose eyes were now glowing with excitement.

Her white fur fluffed up, and she padded towards her leader with a wide grin on her muzzle.

Tallstar continued the ceremony as she finally stood beside him. “Whitekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to become apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Whitepaw." As Whitepaw smiled to herself about her new name, Tallstar's gaze scanned the crowd until his eyes landed on a tortoiseshell molly. "Maplespring will be your mentor. I hope she will pass down all that she knows to you."

The tom then placed his muzzle on Whitepaw’s shoulder for a few moments, and afterwards the new apprentice climbed off of the Tallrock a bit awkwardly due to her speed before she stood in front of hew new mentor. As she and her mentor touched noses, the Clan began cheering her new name before Tallstar dismissed the Clan meeting. 

Onepaw padded over to the two cats, with Firepaw close behind. They caught a small part of the conversation they were having.

“-training beginning tomorrow,” mewed Maplespring, before giving her apprentice a small smile. Afterwards, the tortoiseshell warrior padded away.

“Heya!” Onepaw called cheerfully to Whitepaw, and he and Firepaw padded over.

“Hey, Onepaw, Firepaw!” her gaze flitted to the two cat’s left, “and Runningpaw and Webpaw too,” she purred.

With a quick glance, Firepaw noticed the two other apprentices had come up behind them, both of them giving greetings of their own to the new apprentice.

“Now you’re part of the WindClan apprentice squad.” Onepaw chuckled, tilting his head in a friendly way.

“And I’m excited about it.” Whitepaw mewed after giggling at Onepaw's remark, “Now you guys can’t be all patronizing to me!”

“When did we patronize you?” Runningpaw jumped in, with a wrinkled muzzle and faintly confused expression.

Whitepaw giggled, before meowing, “You just… gave off patronizing energy, you know?”

“No, I don’t get it,” Runningpaw meowed, and Whitepaw just gently bumped her in the shoulder while laughing.

After a moment, Webpaw jumped in to their conversation. "We should... probably get you a nest in our den or something," he mewed, shooting a small smile at the new apprentice.

Whitepaw’s fur fluffed up in renewed excitement. “Oh yeah! How could I forget about that?” She skipped over to apprentice den in an airy, jumpy way.

The other apprentices followed her in, and she was grinning, looking around, before looking at them. “It’s so much bigger compared to the nursery!”

“If it wasn’t I’d be surprised.” Firepaw muttered in a low voice to Onepaw, who chuckled quietly.

Webpaw padded to stand beside Whitepaw, and began pointing at each of the separate nests, saying which one belonged to who as he did so. “That one is mine, that one is Runningpaw’s, Firepaw’s, Onepaw’s…”

The tom looked like he was going to continue, but the jumpy molly quickly ran over to one of the nests. “I want this one!” she exclaimed.

It was in the left-middle of the den, placed next to Runningpaw’s nest. 

Runningpaw smiled, heading over to her own nest to lay down in it. The others stood where they were in a bit of silence before Firepaw broke it.

"Me and Runningpaw were supposed to have the day off," he explained, "but what about you all?" He tilted his head. "Aren't you going to train with your mentors soon?"

Onepaw furrowed his brow. “That’s true…” he mumbled, “I can ask Deadfoot. What about you, Webpaw?”

The tom looked up, gaze thoughtful. “I’ll probably ask Mudclaw.”

“Wait…” Firepaw frowned, “why exactly do we need all of our schedules free?”

Onepaw chuckled. “Well, we wanna get to know Whitepaw. And also having just-apprentice hangouts is fun. So if we can, why not go out without our mentors just to mess around?” He nudged Firepaw. "Besides, won't it get lonely without the rest of us around?"

Firepaw chuckled, “Oh yeah, I can’t go just  _ one day _ without you guys.”

Onepaw mock-rolled his eyes. “Well, of course.” He turned to Webpaw. "Come on, Webpaw. Let's ask our mentors if we can have a day off," he meowed quickly before turning and rushing out of the den. The other tom followed him, although he was slower and more careful than Onepaw.

Firepaw looked at the remaining apprentices, shuffling his paws and looking to the right awkwardly. Whitepaw broke the silence.

“Maplespring told me we’ll be looking at the territory tomorrow! Although I guess today I’ll get a… er… preview…”

Runningpaw tilted her head. "Does that mean we're going to ask to go outside of camp?"

"Well, of course!" Whitepaw exclaimed, touching the grey molly's side with her tail. "I'm an apprentice now, so I don't want to be stuck in camp more than I already was."

“I suppose that could be fun…” Runningpaw mewed absently.

Whitepaw bumped her in the shoulder. “Of course it’ll be fun! Why wouldn’t it.”

Runningpaw seemed hesitant to answer, before she chuckled, smiling slightly. “Because some of the apprentices are not-so-smart and might do something dumb.”

Whitepaw rolled her eyes, “Oh please! That would be what makes it fun!”

Firepaw watched the interaction, not knowing what to say, so he stayed silent.

After a bit of silence, Firepaw heard pawsteps from behind them. Runningpaw and Whitepaw looked up at the den entrance, and Firepaw turned around to follow their gaze. Onepaw and Webpaw were returning to the den, their expressions much more cheerful and excited than they were before.

"I'm gonna assume that they said yes," mewed Firepaw, "judging from the looks on your faces."

Onepaw nodded. "They're letting us take the day off, but told us that training is gonna start early tomorrow. Which, I don't mind, considering that we all have a free day now."

Whitepaw jumped from her nest. "So we can leave the camp now, right?"

Webpaw looked over at her. "We  _ are _ ?"

"It was her idea," Runningpaw said, pointing to Whitepaw with her tail, and the aforementioned apprentice beamed.

"We won't be going that far," promised Whitepaw. "Maplespring is going to be showing me the territory tomorrow, but I just want to see what it's like around camp."

"We can probably get some hunting done too, if we're lucky," Firepaw chimed in.

Onepaw spoke before anyone else could. “Come on, lets just go ask Deadfoot if we can leave camp.”

The others nodded, before they all exited the den one by one, with Onepaw leading them.

It wasn't hard to spot Deadfoot, as the deputy was guarding the camp entrance by himself for the day. Onepaw charged over to his mentor, causing the others to follow at a quicker pace to catch up with him.

Onepaw skidded to a stop in front of his mentor, Deadfoot, with a faintly amused expression.

“Hey, Deadfoot.” Onepaw gasped between breaths, and the deputy looked at him with a curious expression. “Yes, Onepaw?”

“Can me and the other apprentices,” Onepaw motioned to the rest of the apprentices with his tail, “go outside of camp to hang out? We won’t go far, we promise.”

Deadfoot shot a glance at the other apprentices before turning back to his apprentice. "I suppose you can, considering you all won't want to be stuck in camp all day," he said. "However, don't go far from camp, and try not to go too close to ShadowClan territory or in the direction of it." He glanced in the general direction of where the rival Clan's territory was located. "They've been acting more aggressive lately, though no one here knows what's going on with them." He turned back to the apprentices. "In any case, be careful."

Onepaw nodded vigorously. "We will!" he exclaimed before slipping through the camp entrance. Deadfoot warned them one last time to not go too far before he let the four other apprentices pass through the camp entrance.

The sun was now higher in the sky, the sky nearly cloudless safe for a few white streaks painted in the sky. A mild breeze was blowing, the kind of wind that felt nice to be blowing on you.

The five cats clumsily tumbled through the tall grass outside. Whitepaw's eyes were wide, taking in all the new scenery. "Wow," she exclaimed. "I had no idea how  _ big _ our territory is!"

"Wait until you see the rest of it," Firepaw responded. He still remembered his first time exploring the territory and how he thought he was never going to be able to memorize all of it, but after training for a moon it certainly got more familiar.

Without waiting for the others, Whitepaw trudged through the grass in a random direction, running joyfully. The others followed, and easily caught up to her due to have already been training for awhile.

“Where should we go first?” Runningpaw asked, slowing slightly.

Onepaw slowed as well, shrugging. “We could go to that big stone thing near the RiverClan border.”

“Sounds good to me,” Whitepaw purred, fur ruffled.

They set off in the direction of the area that they had spoken of. 

  
  


\---

 

They arrived at the place, the rock making a hard, dark outline against the bright blue sky. They all settled around the rock, the soft grass brushing their fur as they did so.. Firepaw laid his head on his front paws, enjoying the moment that he and his friends were currently having.

_ I love it here in WindClan. _

_ I wouldn't give up anything for it. _

Whitepaw clearly wasn’t in the same relaxed mood, looking excited and full of adrenaline. She suddenly became a flash of white pelt, and the next thing Firepaw could see of her was her sloppily pinning down Runningpaw.

“Surprise attack!” she exclaimed, unable to hold a straight face before collapsing in a fit of giggles.

Runningpaw shoved her off, smiling at the white molly, before shaking out her pelt. "You must have been desperate to get out of camp, huh?"

Onepaw poked Webpaw. “Wanna hear a  _ spooky _ story I heard about this rock?”

Whitepaw immediately jumped up, facing Onepaw. “Eaglekit used to tell scary stories.”

“They were probably fake…” Firepaw heard Webpaw mutter.

Before anyone could really agree to his storytelling, Onepaw leapt into his story, putting on what he thought was an ominous voice.

“One day, there was a tom sitting right on that rock there, and his mate was right at the bottom.” He paused, probably for emphasis on spookiness, “But then, the tom on top of the rock tumbled face-first into the grass, losing balance. He hit his head against the ground, rolling forwards.

“After this, his mate rushed over to him. However, instead of helping him up, she shoved him into the ravine right nearby. He plummeted to his death, and afterwards the molly who was his mate died from a battle the following day.” He grinned at the rest of them. “Legend says that the tom still haunts this area, and because he hit his head on the ground, he can no longer distinguish who is who, so he thinks everyone is his mate from his blurred sense of distinguishment. He tries to get revenge, and attacks everyone in sight.”

Firepaw sighed, rolling his eyes. “Really,” he said in a deadpanned voice.

“Uh-huh!” Onepaw exclaimed. “Spiderdapple told me all about it!”

Webpaw took a cautious step backwards, as if he was afraid that the tom that had supposedly died here was going to haunt them any moment. He shot a fearful and suspicious glance at the ravine that separated WindClan and RiverClan territory.

“If that happened, why didn’t he just go to StarClan?” Runningpaw mewed, tilting her head.

“Uh-” Onepaw mumbled. “He was cursed.”

After a quick glance at Whitepaw, Firepaw could tell she seemed convinced. She was shivering, eyeing the rock with narrowed eyes, before then looking over at the ravine. She backed away from both of them.

After a while of chatting about Onepaw's story, Runningpaw glanced around the territory behind them. "Maybe we should try hunting before going back to camp," she mewed to the other four apprentices. She shot a glance at Whitepaw, smiling. "Whitepaw can watch and see how we catch prey early."

Onepaw stood up, shaking out his fur. "Sounds like a good plan," he said.

 

\---

 

The five cats walked beside each other, now approaching the camp. Whitepaw didn’t have any prey in her jaws, not knowing how to hunt just yet, but Firepaw and Webpaw had a couple of rabbits, and Runningpaw had a sparrow.

“That was fun!” Whitepaw mewed, glancing at the other apprentices. "I can't wait until I know how to hunt like you guys."

"You'll learn soon enough," Onepaw told her, being the only one without any prey in his mouth.

“Says the only one without prey that isn’t Whitepaw…” Firepaw muttered to himself through the rabbit he was holding. Onepaw shoved his side playfully in mock anger.

At last, the group slid through the entrance barrier, depositing their prey in the pile in the center. After getting permission from Deadfoot, still guarding the camp entrance, they each took a piece of prey from the pile to eat and headed off to the apprentices' den.

They all settled themselves into their nest, and as they were enjoying their meal, Onepaw spoke up. "How's being a WindClan apprentice so far?" he asked, turning his attention to Whitepaw.

"It's super cool!" she exclaimed, her eyes gleaming. "I mean, I start training tomorrow, but I still can't wait to do that."

"Don't worry, it's not too terrible," Runningpaw added. Firepaw thought of all the training that he had been doing the past moon. It mostly consisted of hunting techniques, but more recently, Tallstar was starting to show him a few basic battle moves.

_ ShadowClan's being more aggressive lately,  _ he thought, remembering what Deadfoot had told him and the other apprentices this morning.  _ I wonder if we'll have to fight them soon. _

Firepaw dismissed the thoughts as he finished the last of his prey, the other apprentices' conversation background noise.  _ Well, even if we do, I know that I'll defend WindClan with my life. _


	11. Chapter 10

Another moon had passed since the day that Firepaw had joined WindClan.

Tallstar was now focusing more on battle training, with the occasional hunting training thrown in to improve his skills further. ShadowClan was definitely acting more and more aggressive, judging from both gossip from the last gathering as well as border scuffles becoming more and more common. Because of this, Firepaw's mentor wanted him to learn as many fighting moves as possible so he could protect himself should the situation arise where he needed to fight. Day after day, the apprentice kept expecting some sort of battle to happen. The thick tension around camp whenever the topic of ShadowClan was brought up sent a chill down his spine. He hated seeing his generally cheery clanmates suddenly act that way. However, despite this, ShadowClan still rarely trespassed on WindClan territory. There wasn't really any need for a fight with the rival Clan.

Well, not yet anyway.

Firepaw was returning from a small battle training session with Tallstar, the sun setting and the first signs of stars showing in the darkening sky, a river of moonlight beginning to flood the swaying grasses, painting them a silvery color as they silhouetted the purpling sky beyond. During the training session, they had a bit of free time, and Firepaw had managed to catch a sparrow on the way back to camp.  _ Maybe I'll be having my hunting assessment soon. _

As soon as the two toms reached the camp, entering through the familiar bramble arch, Firepaw placed down his sparrow in the prey pile after padding over to it. He was about to head to the apprentices' den when he saw Tallstar leap onto the Tallrock out of the corner of his eye.

“Let all cats old enough to catch prey gather beneath Tallrock," Tallstar called, rousing the Clan from their dens. They piled from their dens with a swagger showing their remaining sleepiness. The cats gathered around their leader, eyes looking up to watch Tallstar, eyes gleaming of respect, as well as many of the faces showing signs of curiosity.

Onepaw nearly barreled Firepaw over as he charged over to his friend. The ginger tom turned around, but before he could let out some sort of retort at the tom’s clumsy recklessness, Onepaw began talking. "I bet this is about the Gathering!" he said, eyes sparkling in the virgin starlight. The two apprentices turned their attention to Tallstar, and Onepaw whispered, "I hope you get to go this time. You've been here as an apprentice long enough, so surely Tallstar would let you go by now. He’ll want to show you to the rest of the Clans."

Firepaw nodded, his mind travelling back to last moon. Onepaw had attended last Gathering, along with Runningpaw, and the way the two apprentices described it had made Firepaw more and more curious to see what it was like in person. All four Clans, gathered together under the moonlight in peace...

As the crowd's small chatter died down, Tallstar began speaking. "Tonight is the night of the full moon, and it is time for the Gathering," he said. "I have chosen the cats to attend tonight's Gathering. Of course, I will be going, along with Deadfoot and Barkface." The two higher ranked cats nodded from their closer place beside the Tallrock. "Mudclaw, Tornear, Willowspot, Onepaw, Webpaw, Firepaw, and Ashfoot will also be coming. The rest of you, either get some rest or be ready to guard the camp, in case ShadowClan decides to try something sneaky."

As Tallstar waved his tail, dismissing the Clan and padding over to speak to the deputy and medicine cat, Firepaw turned to Onepaw, excitement evident in his expression. "See, I knew you would be chosen," mewed Onepaw, grinning along with his friend.

"Yep," Firepaw replied, watching as Tallstar padded towards the camp entrance with the chosen cats following behind him. He turned around, seeing Webpaw, Runningpaw, and Whitepaw padding up to them.

"I hope you enjoy the Gathering!" Runningpaw said, smiling. She turned to Firepaw. "This'll be your first one, right?" Firepaw nodded, and the molly continued. "It's kind of loud at first, but it's super cool meeting cats from other Clans."

"I hope you have fun!" Whitepaw added. "Tell us all about it when you get back to camp, okay?" The white molly had only been apprenticed a moon ago, and wouldn't have a chance to attend a Gathering for at least another moon or more, although she no doubt wanted to go. It was obvious not only from the way she kept glancing at the entrance with slight disappointment, as well as how it just seemed like something she’d love to do.

Webpaw smiled slightly before following Whitepaw's eyes to the camp entrance. "We're gonna be leaving soon," he meowed, taking a few steps towards where the Gathering patrol was standing and waiting.

"We'll be sure to tell you how it went!" Onepaw mewed before turning around and beginning to pad towards the camp entrance.

"Bye!" Firepaw called over his shoulder before he followed the two other apprentices.

_ I'm finally going to a Gathering _ , Firepaw thought.  _ I get to meet cats from other Clans! _

And then Firepaw's mind wandered towards the day he met those ThunderClan cats in the forest.

_ Greypaw... I wonder if I'm going to see him.  _ A part of him desperately wanted to meet the ThunderClan apprentice. He silently hoped that he was going to be attending tonight's Gathering as he stood by the camp entrance, waiting to leave.

After a few more moments of waiting, Tallstar flicked his tail, and the Gathering patrol swarmed out of camp. Firepaw padded alongside Onepaw and Webpaw, smiling.

_ It's finally time. _

 

\---

 

The trek to Fourtrees didn't take nearly as long as Firepaw thought it would. Perhaps it was different for other Clans, or maybe it was because he had grown to be able to travel much longer distances in his time in the Clan, but it only seemed like the group of cats traveled a small distance. Onepaw and Webpaw explained to him about what Gatherings were like in more detail as they walked, (with Onepaw being the main provider of information) and it made Firepaw even more excited to reach Fourtrees.

The patrol stood at the edge of the clearing, and while Firepaw couldn't see much, even as he tried peering over the warriors' shoulders, he knew that it was big, big enough to fit cats from all four Clans in the hollow it was located in. He remembered it being described to him briefly on his first tour of the territory, and now he was finally here.

"We're about to enter," Onepaw whispered to him. "We're waiting for Tallstar to give us the signal."

"Okay," Firepaw said, nodding, not knowing much else to say. Feeling a surge of excitement, he wondered if they were going to be the first Clan there, considering the short distance that he and his Clan had apparently travelled.

_ Well, it doesn't matter,  _ he told himself.  _ Even if we are, the other Clans would show up eventually. _

At last, after what seemed like ages of waiting, Tallstar gave the signal to enter the hollow, and the WindClan cats charged inside.

Firepaw looked around the large clearing with wide, wondering eyes. As Onepaw ushered him closer towards the center, he looked around the place. There were four large trees, spiraling towards the top of the clearing, but that was obvious from the name. They touched slightly at the tip of each branch, with lower, thicker branches weaving and making a labyrinth of leaves and twigs.

And then there was the Great Rock.

It stood in the center of the clearing, looking as if it had been rooted there with no way to remove it. It was large, and had enough space for four or more fully grown cats on top of its smooth surface. It sprouted upwards with rough edges, and moss coated it.  _ That's where the leaders sit,  _ Firepaw realized, remembering what Onepaw and Webpaw had told him along the way as they walked.

Deadfoot and Barkface had padded to sit beneath the mammoth rock, speaking with the deputies and medicine cats of the other Clan that had showed up, from what he could tell, was RiverClan. Tallstar had already leapt to sit on top of the rock, and Firepaw saw that another tom was already sitting on it as well.  _ RiverClan's leader,  _ he guessed.

"Let's go find a spot to sit down," Onepaw called, already wandering away towards the edges of the clearing. Firepaw padded over to him, and Webpaw followed behind, clearly not knowing where else to go.

The three apprentices found a shady area near the edge of the clearing, with patches of soft grass and moss underpaw.

They looked up at the cats beside the Great Rock, and after a moment of watching, Firepaw mewed, "Who are those? The- the RiverClan cats."

"The brown tom sitting next to Tallstar is Crookedstar, RiverClan's leader," Onepaw explained. "The golden molly with the spots sitting beside Deadfoot is Leopardfur. She's RiverClan's deputy."

Firepaw studied the two cats as much as he could from where he sat. From what he could see, they were definitely deserving of the ranks they had. "And the one by Barkface?"

"Mudfur," Webpaw answered. "RiverClan's medicine cat."

Just as Webpaw spoke, out the corner of his eye, Firepaw could see another Clan pouring into the clearing. ThunderClan, judging from the scent.

Recognizing the blue-grey molly that was leading them in, Firepaw shrank back. Onepaw shot him a curious glance as he did so. “What’s the issue?”

“Nothing,” he shook his head, “nothing, really.”

Onepaw still looked curious, as if he wanted to pry further, but he just sighed and watched the ThunderClan cats pile in.

Firepaw eyed the cats that were coming in, searching for a particular grey cat. Towards the back of the crowd, he spotted him: grey fur with a darker stripe, and amber eyes that he could see glisten even from the distance that separated them.

Firepaw glanced at Onepaw and Webpaw. "I'm going to go and see if I can meet some ThunderClan cats," he mewed, standing up. "I mean, the whole point of the Gathering is to meet cats from other Clans, right?"

Onepaw’s gaze remained slightly suspicious, but he shrugged and just said. “Go on.”

Firepaw nodded, before trying to pinpoint where he had seen Greypaw. After a moment of searching, he spotted the grey tom and promptly padded over to where he was admiring the clearing.

"Greypaw!"

The apprentice turned his head as his name was called, eyes flashing with disbelief and a bit of confusion as he saw Firepaw. He frowned, turning fully to seemingly examine the orange tom.

“R… Rusty?” The words came out a bit slow, and Greypaw padded forward to stand face to face with Firepaw. "What are you doing here?"

Firepaw sat down, grinning. "I'm an apprentice in WindClan now! Have been for two moons now. And, hah, my name's Firepaw now, by the way."

"Firepaw..." Greypaw said to himself.

"Yep."

"What happened after, you know, we met?" the grey tom asked, sitting down as well. "You never showed up after me, Bluestar, and Lionheart talked to you, so we all assumed you went home and... well... stayed there."

"I would never do that!" he said. "Well, okay, the thing is, my twolegs took me near the moor, for whatever reason. And that's where I found WindClan, and I asked to join them, and they let me in."

Greypaw tilted his head. "Why didn't you join ThunderClan, though?" he asked. " _ Would _ you have?"

Firepaw shook his head. "I would have preferred hunting here on WindClan territory  _ way _ more than in some crowded forest."

"They're not  _ too _ crowded—"

"And, well," Firepaw went on, cutting off whatever Greypaw was going to say, "as a kittypet, I had always had these... dreams. Dreams of hunting on the moors and living there, surrounded by a bunch of cats. I just... I feel like I'm really, truly home when I'm in WindClan."

"Oh," Greypaw said, nodding in understanding, but Firepaw could see that he looked a bit betrayed, judging from his expression. "Well... how are you enjoying Clan life, then? You said you've been training for two moons, right?"

Firepaw nodded. "My training's going pretty well. It's pretty difficult sometimes, but that's to be expected. I've made a few friends, too," he added, shooting a glance behind him at Onepaw and Webpaw, who were talking together.

"Well, that's good at least," Greypaw said.

Firepaw leaped to his paws. "Do you wanna meet the other WindClan apprentices?" he asked. "Two of them, at least. The other two weren't chosen to come tonight."

"Sure!" The ThunderClan apprentice sprung to his paws and followed Firepaw over to where the other WindClan apprentices were sitting, still talking to each other occasionally. They looked over as Firepaw approached them, with Greypaw right behind them.

Onepaw’s gaze flickered from Webpaw to see Firepaw. He nodded at him, grinning. “Decided to stop abandoning us?”

Firepaw was about to retort, but just sighed and shook his head. He flicked his tail towards Greypaw, in the end ignoring Onepaw’s comment. “This is Greypaw.”

“Skunkpaw,” Webpaw muttered, probably to himself, although everyone could hear.

Onepaw laughed, nudging Webpaw before looking back over to the fluffy grey tom.

Greypaw tilted his head, and shot the two a goofy smile. “Heya, I’ll just ignore what was said because I only hear facts.”

Firepaw snorted before Onepaw turned to the orange tom. "Hey, how do you even know him anyway?" he asked. "WindClan and ThunderClan don't even border each other, so I'm curious."

"Oh yeah, about that," Firepaw said. "Back when I used to live in Twolegplace, I lived really close to the ThunderClan forest, though at the time, I didn't know it was  _ ThunderClan's _ . I had always wondered what was past the forest, mainly because I thought that a moor, or WindClan territory, was past it." He sighed. "Long story short, I was apparently an intruder in  Greypaw's territory and we fought for a second before he told me a bit about Clan life. And then, you know, I ended up here in WindClan the next day."

Just as Onepaw opened his mouth to respond, there was a yowl around the clearing.

Each of the apprentices glanced up to see that all of the Clans had arrived, and the four leaders were standing atop the rock.

Catching Onepaw’s confused gaze as he eyed the ShadowClan leader, Firepaw whispered to him. “What’s the issue?”

“That’s…” he frowned, “That’s the deputy… I think… It’s not Raggedstar.”

Presuming that Raggedstar was the leader of ShadowClan, after a few more moments of looking at Onepaw’s confused gaze, he directed his attention back to the leaders.  _ I’m sure there’s an explanation. _

The tom who was replacing Raggedstar padded forward—he was large, and his dark brown tabby fur looked messy and ungroomed. The lower half of his tail was bent, and his orange eyes glowed in the moonlight that came through the leaves.

The dark brown tom stepped forward, his frightening gaze scanning the cats crowded below him. "Greetings," he said, "Raggedstar has died in the last moon, and being deputy, I was the one to take his place. My name is no longer Brokentail, and you must address me as Brokenstar now."

"I already don't like him," Webpaw whispered, cowering back and shivering slightly. Firepaw saw his friends nod, and as he stared at Brokenstar, he felt that something was off with the new ShadowClan leader.

Before Brokenstar could say anything else, Crookedstar stepped forward. “I would like to be the first to announce news.” He spoke assertively, surveying the cats below him. Brokentail, or Brokenstar now, stepped back to sit in line with the other leaders, nodding to him.

He cleared his throat. “Prey has been plentiful; StarClan has treated us kindly for the past moon. There has been some issues with ThunderClan…” He glanced at Bluestar, not getting any more specific, before looking back at the crowd of cats. Firepaw could sense a bud of tension in the crowd. “But RiverClan has been well for the most part.” He stepped back, leaving the spot open for another leader to step forward.

After Crookedstar's news, Bluestar replaced his spot at the front of the rock. "Prey has been well for us too, and we thank StarClan for their kindness in these moons. There is no other news to share.” She stepped back, and afterwards, Tallstar took her place at the front of the rock.

“Prey has been plentiful for us as well.” He paused, “StarClan has been very kind to us. A new apprentice has also joined our ranks, and while she isn't here, we can still honor her. Whitepaw is now an apprentice of WindClan."

The crowd of gathered cats began calling out Whitepaw's name, though Firepaw took note of the lack of ShadowClan cats joining in. Tallstar waited for the crowd to die down before continuing on with his reports. "As you may know, a few moons ago, I mentioned that a kittypet has joined our ranks. His name is Firepaw, and he is here with us tonight."

Firepaw shrunk back as all eyes searched for and landed on him, and most of the cats in the crowd began chanting his name the same way they did with Whitepaw. He looked up at the leaders, but he noticed something in Bluestar's eyes that he couldn't quite pinpoint.

_ Anger? Disappointment? She  _ did _ offer me to join her Clan, but... _

He shook those thoughts away.  _ I wasn't meant to be in ThunderClan. I was meant to be in WindClan. _

"If that's all over," Brokenstar cut in, shouldering his way to the front of the rock, "I will now speak." Tallstar shot a glare at him that he didn't catch, but stepped back regardless, dipping his head in respect. The other leaders nodded as well.

“Prey has been very well, we thank StarClan…” he seemed to rush through this part, “however, there is some more important business that I must ask of the other leaders.”

There was a confused silence that responded to his words. Greypaw leaned over to Firepaw and whispered, “That’s weird- usually they just talk amongst themselves before or after announcing the news.”

"Something's definitely off," Onepaw agreed. Firepaw shifted in his spot, shooting a glance at his friends before looking back at the leader perched atop the rock.

“I would like to ask if the other Clans would like to ally with ShadowClan. We would both make sure that we would help each other’s Clans in times of need.”

The confused silence turned to a shocked one as he said this. Whispers filled the crowd, and the other three leaders all stared at Brokenstar in shock. The ShadowClan leader flicked his tail at the crowd to silence the murmurs, before continuing. “I am aware that the request is sudden. However, I do think it can benefit all sides the alliance.”

"No." Bluestar was the first to answer, breaking out of her shock. She said it quick and bluntly, as if she didn’t even think about it before saying it.

Brokenstar’s expression turned cold for a second, before switching back to its neutrality. "Very well. What about the rest of you?" he asked, turning to Tallstar and Crookedstar respectively.

"I'm afraid WindClan will have to deny this offer as well," said Tallstar. Firepaw breathed a sigh of relief. He remembered about the ShadowClan cats lurking dangerously close to the border, and he wondered if Brokenstar would even keep his promise of an alliance if Tallstar chose to accept.

Crookedstar, on the other hand, looked at Brokenstar with a bit of interest. "Brokenstar... will you give me time to think about this?"

"What?" Leopardfur hissed, leaping from her spot near the bottom of the Great Rock. Her furious expression turned towards her leader, and she lashed her tail. "You can't  _ seriously _ be considering this, are you? RiverClan can survive on its own! We don't need help from any Clan, especially from one that doesn't even border us!" In response to the deputy’s hiss, Brokenstar shot her a cold glare.

"I understand that, Leopardfur," Crookedstar replied, speaking in a much more calm fashion than his deputy. "But right now, I don't think it would be a bad idea to have some allies." He turned his gaze back to Brokenstar, who was now staring at him with curiosity and a hint of excitement. "Will you give me another day to think about this? If I accept, I will send a patrol to your territory to speak with you and give us our answer."

This time, it wasn't just Leopardfur who was growling: it was almost the entirety of RiverClan, save for a few who were watching the two leaders with interest. Brokenstar flicked his jagged tail, grinning. "Very well. If you choose to accept, you will not be disappointed, Crookedstar."

The RiverClan leader dipped his head. "Thank you."

Ignoring him, Brokenstar turned to Tallstar and Bluestar, the two leaders who had denied his offer of alliance. "You're making a mistake, not choosing to ally with us. I guess you'll see the consequences of that in due time."

Firepaw's blood turned cold.  _ What does that mean? _

Before anyone could respond to Brokenstar's threat, the ShadowClan leader flicked his tail to signal for his Clan to follow him before leaping off of the Great Rock and beginning to head back towards his own territory.

The crowd began its quiet chatting after ShadowClan had left the hollow, and from what few words Firepaw could catch from nearby cats, WindClan and ThunderClan seemed pretty worried about what was going to happen to them.

"Well," said Greypaw, "I've gotta go back to my Clan. I'll see you soon, though!"

Firepaw nodded. "Yeah... same. Bye!" he called, and Greypaw hurried after the other ThunderClan cats, who were slowly beginning to crowd around Bluestar to leave.

Firepaw turned to Onepaw and Webpaw, who wore expressions of fear on their faces, and Webpaw was even shaking a little.  _ I don't blame him. Something's up with ShadowClan. _

Before Firepaw could say anything, he heard pawsteps coming towards him. He turned around and saw Tallstar, beckoning the three apprentices with his tail.

"Come on, you three," he meowed. "It's time to get back to camp."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Comments are appreciated and encouraged.


	12. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after a bit of a hiatus, we're back!

It had been a few days since the Gathering, and the events that had happened still lingered fresh, similar to pawprints in snow, in Firepaw's mind, and it seemed that his fellow Clanmates were also on edge since the whole series of events.

Brokenstar's warning to both WindClan and ThunderClan, the two Clans who had declined his offer of alliance, seemed to be a common topic of discussion, so even if Firepaw wanted badly to forget it, he couldn't. Whispers of what the ShadowClan leader had said lurked amongst his Clanmates, a constant blanket of tension arising from the worried mutters. It almost felt as if an invisible tendril held the entire camp within this cycle of fearfulness.

Even now, even if Firepaw wasn’t even  _ in  _ the camp, he could feel it, like water soaking through his fur and freezing the delicate pink skin underneath, despite the warm sun coating him. It was a pleasant day on the outside, with the gentle sway of yellow grass and hot sun right in the middle of the sky. The purple heathers licked at his belly fur, with the blue horizon stretching on and very small shapes in the far distance of ShadowClan territory hardly visible. 

_ ShadowClan _ . As soon as WindClan had gotten back to their camp from the Gathering, Tallstar had told the entire Clan the news of Brokenstar's threat, and he ordered that border patrols near the ShadowClan border would be doubled. Firepaw was nervous about straying close to ShadowClan's territory, even if he had three other cats with him to help defend WindClan if ShadowClan decided to try something malicious. The reminder that there was a possibility of this at all sent a chill down the young tom’s spine. Whether “something malicious” was either just a simple border crossing without much trouble, or if it was a full-fledged attack, he knew that ever since the Gathering that Brokenstar’s words had entailed  _ something _ .

Firepaw’s eyes flitted to study the other cats accompanying him. Of course, as usual, Tallstar was there. Despite the constant worry within the camp, he seemed to remain very calm, which happened to serve as something therapeutic for Firepaw. He sensed a feeling of thankfulness for having at least one almost constant anchor, something that didn’t constantly radiate tension.

Other than his mentor, there was also Tornear. Firepaw gently exhaled through his teeth as he studied the tom, large and almost constantly showing his confidence. Contrary to Tallstar, Tornear always seemed to be tense, even down to small things like how his shoulders were slightly raised, to the common twitching of his whiskers. Firepaw knew the tom didn’t mean to do it, but being around him had been serving the opposite effect that Tallstar gave.

Padding alongside Firepaw, there was Runningpaw, Tornear's apprentice. The young molly had, despite her timid nature, always seemed full of energy. But now, or at least in the past couple of days, she seemed as tense and nervous as almost everyone else in WindClan. Firepaw couldn’t blame her for being worried, really. He himself was terrified of what could happen. Her presence didn’t serve the same thing that Tornear gave, though. Despite having a similar feeling of tension to her, it was more a quiet undertone of constant worriedness, rather than her seeming ready to fight at the drop of one movement. Because of that difference, he could feel more empathy for her rather than finding her negative energy stressful.

As Firepaw observed his companions absentmindedly, he hardly noticed how close they were to getting to the ShadowClan border before Tallstar suddenly stopped. Upon getting his focus back, he could see a few ShadowClan warriors standing a bit too close to the border than Firepaw would have liked. They shot glares at the WindClan cats, and silence fell around everyone involved before Tallstar took a step forward to confront them.

"What are you all doing so close to the border?" Tallstar asked, keeping his voice unaffected, neutral. 

The reactions from the ShadowClan warriors varied, but just as one seemed about ready to step forward and hiss at WindClan’s leader, another older-looking one stopped him and approached a few steps instead.

“We are simply on a patrol. We don’t mean any harm.” His voice sounded careful, with a fragility to it, almost as if one wrong word could change it completely.

Tallstar hummed in response, expression unreadable. “Very well. Please stay a bit farther away from our side of the border.”

This time, the older tom couldn’t stop the furious younger one from coming forward. “We’re still on our territory, rabbit-chaser. Just because you-“

He was cut off from the larger tom yanking him back and whispering urgently in his ear. No matter how much Firepaw strained his ears, he couldn’t hear what they said. But whatever he had said, it had worked, because the younger tom had gone quiet, expression sour.

“I apologize for Shadepaw’s behavior,” he said, shoot another glare at the apprentice before adding, “we understand your message.”

Tallstar seemed hesitant to leave, but he eventually nodded at the warriors when they moved to turn around. He turned back to his own Clanmates. “We should return back to camp.” 

What really surprised Firepaw was the unusual note of urgency in his mentor’s voice, as well as it had been a hushed mutter, almost as if he meant for the ShadowClan warriors not to hear. Tallstar padded off about as twice as fast as before, prompting the rest of the patrol to follow suit in a similar manner.

The way back to the camp was quiet, the only noises from the cats were Tornear’s occasional confused mutter directed at Tallstar, every time the only response being silence. During this silence, all Firepaw could do was think, particularly about the ShadowClan warriors and Tallstar’s strange reaction.

As they neared the camp, Firepaw could have sworn his heart skipped a beat at the sounds he heard coming from the direction of the camp. No, they weren’t the usual mutters that began to become audible as a cat neared the camp, nor the quiet chirps of birds and the rustle of grass.

They were cats yowling in pain and fear.

Firepaw's heart sank, even as he charged alongside the other three WindClan cats accompanying him.  _ Was this what Brokenstar's threat was? An attack? If so, how long have they been keeping this up? _

Tallstar tore through the entrance, followed by Tornear, and then the two WindClan apprentices. Firepaw's eyes widened in shock and horror at the sight in front of him.

Although the battle couldn't have lasted that long, blood stained the usually pale coloured clearing. Plants that had been ripped from the den walls and the ground were strewn around the camp, and fur that had been torn from both sides of fighting cats littered the clearing. The strong scent of ShadowClan was almost intoxicating with how thick it was. As he looked on in horror, Firepaw knew that  _ this _ what Brokenstar meant with his threats back at the Gathering. 

But what terrified him most was what he could see peaking through a couple of fighting cats- a large limp ball of fur, coated in crimson. He wanted to deny the possibility that  _ any  _ of his Clanmates had died, but he knew now wasn’t the time. The two warriors had already rushed into the tangle, and Runningpaw had done the same soon after. 

Firepaw knew he had to push down his overwhelming fear.

He rushed down the small dip, and studied the place with a quick glance. After looking around for a moment, he spotted Webpaw struggling with fighting what seemed to be a warrior, judging from his size. 

Acting on instinct, he launched himself at the brown tabby. He let out a startled cry, before spinning around. Firepaw could see in the corner of his eye Webpaw being forced into another fight. 

There was no time to dwell on that. He turned his attention back to the snarling warrior before him, and used the last moments of advantage he had to shoot to the tom’s side, using his speed to kick the brown tabby before he could do more than swing his paw as a reaction.

It resulted in fur being torn from Firepaw’s cheek, as well as the skin underneath being nicked. As he stumbled slightly at the unfamiliar stinging, the warrior knocked into him, knocking the breath out of him. 

The tom sank his teeth into where Firepaw’s neck lined up with his shoulder, and the apprentice cried out. Of course he had practiced training, but that had never been painful like  _ this _ . This was complete malice, the other cat having full intention of injuring or even killing him, as it seemed  _ that _ part of the code had been forgotten already, judging from the bodies he had seen.

Firepaw knew he’d have to come back to his senses, but it was so hard to think about fighting back when blood was pouring from his shoulder and there was still sharp teeth dug into the wound. He metaphorically shook himself, before kicking at ShadowClan warrior’s belly.

It resulted in the tom letting out a quiet  _ oomf _ and stumbling back. Firepaw quickly ran forward, trying to push away the sharp pain in his shoulder as he put pressure on his front paws. He slashed at the tom’s ears with his claws outstretched. He could see a small drip of blood coming from it, and the tabby hissed in pain.

Almost seemingly out of pure retaliation against the apprentice, the warrior shot towards him again, this time knocking Firepaw to the ground and pinning him. The tabby dug the claws in his hind paws into Firepaw’s soft belly fur, before ripping the claws back. It created long, angry looking red scratches to form across his lower belly. 

Noticing this as well, the warrior did something of similar nature, tearing open the wounds further. This caused a shriek from Firepaw as he writhed. The apprentice’s struggle only seemed to infuriate the warrior more.

He sank his teeth into Firepaw’s lower neck, blood dripping from the punctures. 

Firepaw felt fear flush through him as a thought came to him.  _ I need to get him off. He might kill me _ . 

Firepaw craned his head so he could bite into the ear that he had clawed at earlier, worsening the wound. The warrior hissed in pain, pulling back from Firepaw’s neck, and the apprentice could feel blood bubbling from the wound as soon as the tabby lifted his head. 

Firepaw kicked his hind legs into the tabby’s belly, attempting to get him off. 

It didn’t completely work, but it did succeed in the warrior loosening his grip, and that was just enough. Firepaw shoved him off, fluffing up his fur and pushing him back. The warrior met his eyes with a look of rage, but he was now backing away. Firepaw watched as he glanced around at the fight, before hissing once more at Firepaw and darting away.

Firepaw sighed in relief, but could only celebrate for a moment before a yowl erupted from somewhere behind him.

"WindClan! Retreat!"

It was Tallstar's voice. At that command, WindClan cats began fleeing out of the camp, their previous attackers hissing and growling mockingly at them, as well as shouting insults.

Firepaw couldn't believe what he was hearing and seeing. An entire Clan, being driven from their own camp... and  _ his _ Clan, no less.

Despite his shock, he knew he couldn’t say no to his leader’s orders. He joined the flood of WindClan warriors that were rushing to the exit, with the ShadowClan cats cheering and howling mockingly at their expense.

He expected that to be it, but he heard the sound of more pawsteps.  _ They’re going to chase us out. _

The already weakened Clan was no match for ShadowClan warriors forcing WindClan to the edges of their own territory. As Firepaw charged alongside his Clanmates, pain stinging in multiple places of his body, he heard a ShadowClan cat sneer, "And don't come back! This territory belongs to ShadowClan now!”


	13. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back with another chapter.  
> psst psst little side note from writer eaz: I included a reference that gale doesn't get in this haha gottem

#  CHAPTER TWELVE

 

The events that had just occurred had happened so quickly that Firepaw had barely any time to process what was going on. One moment he was worriedly eyeing Tallstar’s uncharacteristically alarmed expression, the next he was fighting in the battered, blood soaked WindClan camp, and the next, he was running alongside WindClan in fear, being driven out of  _ their own territory _ .

Although he couldn't read minds or anything of the like, it seemed that everyone shared Firepaw's thoughts as well. The fear scent coming off of the WindClan cats was so strong that you could probably suffocate in it, and the silence, save for the heavy breathing and panting from the tired and injured cats, was unnerving.

But who could blame their shock and terror? They had just lost their home, and they couldn't even do anything about it.

_ I didn't realize that Brokenstar was going to go  _ this  _ far _ , Firepaw thought, his heart sinking with dread.

Images of the camp he had cherished, considered a home for so long, torn apart and filled with yowling and bloodied cats of both his Clan and their newfound enemies alike. The stench of blood always present, even now amongst the cats around him. The thoughts of how he had been forced to fear for his life despite being taught by his fellow Clanmates that it was against the sacred code for the warriors.

He was almost sure that everyone around him had felt the same or a very similar feeling, judging from the withdrawn expressions on most of the other cats’ faces.

Amidst the thick silence, Deadfoot began walking as fast as he could with both his injuries and lame paw through the group of cats, muttering something to himself as he passed by each cat. After he finished examining everyone, he padded back to Tallstar. The deputy whispered something to the leader who, upon hearing it, hung his head low for a moment before eventually raising it back up. His eyes scanned the crowd before he spoke.

"Cats of WindClan," he began, his voice not as loud as it usually was when addressing his Clan, almost as if he feared that the ShadowClan warriors would hear him calling if he spoke any louder. "Deadfoot has done a quick check to make sure who is still with us. It turns out that two cats are not, and we can only assume that they were killed during the battle with ShadowClan." He bowed his head. "Although we cannot give a proper burial or vigil, we will honor Spiderdapple and Willowspot in any ways we can." 

A feeling of cold fear flushed through Firepaw as he recalled the limp mound of fur, hardly visible behind all the cats fighting, unidentifiable due to the blood that covered the fur, pressing it slick down like mud.

He shook himself, and winced due to the jolt of pain it caused in his shoulder and neck.

Tallstar continued. “Keep Spiderdapple and Willowspot in your minds as we travel, and remember that they gave themselves away for this chance.” The leader went quiet, signaling the end of the faux-meeting.

Firepaw studies the cats around him, most looking still alert, with bushed up fur and raised hackles almost as if they expected to be ambushed any minute.

_ I’m a little nervous.  _ He almost laughed as soon as the thought came, considering what an understatement it was.  _ But… _ he recoiled into himself, whatever laughter that had come to him had died. He kept his eyes trained on the ground, trying to avoid the intoxicatingly thick scent of fear.  _ But I can’t show it. _

While caught up in his thoughts, he only was cut off from it when he heard murmurs from a cat in front of him— Barkface— speaking to Tallstar.

“I’m gonna go in a different direction to look for herbs.” The medicine cat shot a worried glance at the cats behind him, limping, bleeding, and wounds exposed to the air.

Tallstar nodded. “In that case, we will take a break here, both so the cats can rest and you can more easily use your herbs.”

Barkface gave the leader a small smile, before flicking his tail in a goodbye and whisking away into the unknown forest.

A few moments after Barkface left, Tallstar suddenly frowned, and eyed the crowd. “Mudclaw, go accompany Barkface. Explain to him that I said I don’t want cats on their own.”

Mudclaw nodded, dipping his head to the leader before bounding in the direction that Barkface had vanished to.

Firepaw studied the crowd of cats around him, and found his gaze falling on his friend Onepaw, who had Runningpaw beside him. The two were muttering things to Ashfoot and Morningflower that Firepaw couldn’t hear, but judging from how Runningpaw had her tail wrapped around Ashfoot’s, and she seemed to be squeezing it, Firepaw found it most likely that they were attempting to comfort the two queens.

Firepaw hummed quietly to himself as he watched the two apprentices whisper to the queens only things that could be conjured from imagination, and found himself getting up to join them.

“Firepaw.”

The voice of Tallstar stopped him in his tracks, though, and he quickly turned around. He dipped his head as a sign of respect, and Tallstar only chuckled in response.

“Er- Huh?” Firepaw said, only half expecting an answer, as he was confused as to why Tallstar was laughing.

“And here I was thinking we were close enough to get past the bows.” 

When Firepaw studied Tallstar’s expression, he was slightly surprised to find a complete lack of mockery and of pure— oh, what was it? Some sort of mix of amusement and friendliness. 

Firepaw responded with a smile, trying to push away his polite tendencies, “I’ll try to keep it in mind.”

Tallstar quickly changed the subject. “I was going to ask if you were doing okay.”

"I..." Firepaw shook his head, his smile leaving his face. "I really can't lie... not really." His leader watched him in silence, as if he were quietly urging Firepaw to elaborate. "It's just that... everything happened so fast, and I'm worried for everyone else here as much as I am for myself." He shivered slightly, and Tallstar laid his long tail gently against his back to reassure him.

"I understand what you're saying," the WindClan leader muttered. "I fear for our Clan too. However, I am their leader, so I must stay calm for them."

Firepaw nodded gently so that he didn't disturb his wounds. "Yeah."

"One more thing I should mention," Tallstar said after a moment of silence between him and Firepaw. "Training for every apprentice will be put on hold for now. Right now, our main concern is finding another place to stay, and who knows how long we'll have to stay off of our territory."

Firepaw fell into silence, not quite a tense one, but definitely not a comfortable one. He could swear he could even smell the smallest trace of fear coming from his mentor. It shouldn’t have been surprising as it was, really.

Tallstar was a constant neutral figure, in almost everything- careful, thorough, and objective with his decisions.

Nonetheless, Firepaw considered himself foolish for thinking that perhaps WindClan’s leader could feel something so negative, and well-  _ mortal _ , really- as fear. 

But the scent had vanished as fast as it had come, so quickly that Firepaw figured he might have imagined it, mixed it in with the constant cloud of fear coming from the cats around the two.

Firepaw shook himself, sighing. Noticing the gesture, Tallstar looked at him with a curious gaze. Just as he seemed about to ask a question, there was a rustle of leaves from behind the two.

Firepaw turned around to see that Mudclaw and Barkface had returned, only a few similar-looking (or at least in his opinion) herbs in the two cats' jaws.

Tallstar approached Barkface, who mumbled something incoherent at first before setting down the herbs. “I could only find a couple things, and I figured I shouldn’t go on a much longer search without notifying you and without permission.” He paused before adding, "Especially since our Clan desperately needs to heal and rest at the moment. Again, it's not much, but as we travel further, I'll see what I can find to help."

Tallstar nodded, expression unreadable as he looked at his medicine cat. He then gestured around the shelter they found. “Please, go on and do what you can.”

At Tallstar’s dismissance, Barkface looked ready to set off to look at individual cats’ injuries, but he didn’t move. Instead, he leaned in and muttered to the larger tom.

“Morningflower is very close to kitting. She will need a proper place to do so.” After a moment of silence, he added in a lower voice, "It's a shame she has to give birth in these conditions." Tallstar was quiet, with a dangerously neutral look on his face, before he spoke up.

“Understood. We will set off soon to find a more proper place as soon as is possible.” And with that, the conversation was done, and Barkface left to look closer at the cats in the crowd. Mudclaw placed his small herb bundle near a sheltered area, notified Barkface of its location, and padded off to rest and wait for the medicine cat to check his injuries.

While this whole fiasco had gone down between the two toms, Firepaw had failed to notice Webpaw curled up and shaking near one of the trees. It wasn’t till the conversation he had watched finished that he actually noticed.

When he did realize it, he rushed over to his friend, glancing around to see if Onepaw was nearby as he did so. Sure enough, he was not, most likely caught up in conversation somewhere in the throng of cats.

Firepaw silently sat beside Webpaw, who seemed to barely notice his presence. He wasn’t entirely sure how to help, which is why he had glanced around to see if Onepaw was close. 

But he did remember what he had seen the tom doing with the queens earlier, and decided to copy what he and Runningpaw had been doing.

Firepaw curled his tail around his friend's, before leaning down to quietly ask him a question.

“Hey, are you okay?”

The words seemed to snap Webpaw back to reality, and his fur fluffed up in embarrassment. “Er- what did you say?”

“I asked if you were okay.” He repeated, hoping that his voice was soothing.

Webpaw blinked at Firepaw a couple times, before he simply gave him a small, strained smile and his shoulders slumped. “I’m about as okay as we really can be in this situation.”

Firepaw returned the smile, and squeezed his friend’s tail again. “I suppose you are right. Everyone around here is at least a little scared, and it’s normal.”

Webpaw seemed to relax a little at Firepaw's words. "I get it, but it's just... so scary. I had a bad feeling about Brokenstar when he threatened us at the Gathering, but..." The apprentice's words trailed off, yet Firepaw understood what he was trying to convey.

The two apprentices laid there in the shade, each others' presence as well as their previous small discussion enough to reassure them that they would be safe. As Firepaw glanced around, he could see that the rest of WindClan was basically feeling the same way; although a tense and fearful energy still hung around in the air, Clanmates calming and reassuring each other that it would be okay certainly toned it down a few notches.

Barkface was still padding from cat to cat, looking over their injuries and treating them the best that he could with his limited herb supply. But now he was padding up to the two apprentices, and Firepaw could swear he saw a glint of determination in the medicine cat’s eyes.

“Hello, Webpaw, Firepaw,” he gestured at the toms to get up, “what kind of injuries do you have?”

Firepaw rose, and saw Webpaw do the same. He shifted so that Barkface could see the wounds on his cheek and shoulder. “I have these, and I also have wounds on my belly as well.”

Barkface nodded slowly, before he came closer. He lifted up a leaf that had some strange gooey substance on, and gently rubbed some of it onto Firepaw’s shoulder and cheek. After doing so, he placed down the leaf and placed cobwebs on both. He then backed up.

“Show me your belly, please.”

Firepaw nodded, flipping over so the medicine cat could see his belly. The medicine cat frowned, before coming forward again. He rubbed the same substance he put on Firepaw’s cheek and shoulder on the wounds in his belly, as well as another liquid. At Firepaw’s confused expression, Barkface gave a short explanation.

“This should push away infection. Your belly cuts have some mild infection,” Barkface said after covering them up with cobwebs. “Try to limit doing things like jumping and running. In other circumstances I’d ask you do limit your walking, but I know that isn’t possible in these circumstances.”

After this, Barkface turned to Webpaw to help whatever injuries the tom had. But Firepaw found his mind wandering as he stared into the crowd of now mostly bandaged up cats, questions whirring through his mind. But he couldn’t help but ignore the most prominent query, which happened to find itself almost as constant as the fear in the air.

_ How do we even know we’ll be able to return? _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!   
> Commenting is strongly encouraged and welcomed.


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, we all gotta have filler at some point,,,

#  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

 

The next few days seemed to pass by unbelievably slowly. Although the cats had gotten calmer and had healed the best that they could, a tense energy still hung in the air with them. The past days had been almost purely heading over the dreary landscape, with the pause at night to sleep somewhere.

They rarely had any time to rest, as well as try and heal from injuries. Barkface would occasionally pick up a familiar herb as they were travelling and use it on his Clanmates the best that he could, but with such a tiny supply it was impossible to treat everyone.

Hunting was a disaster as well. For the first day or two, a majority of the journey had been spent travelling through forests, which was more suited for ThunderClan cats in terms of both navigating and hunting. The little prey that they had managed to catch had to be shared, and said shares were around a mouthful or two.

To put it simply, no one in the Clan had gotten a break or a day with pure relaxing since they were forced out of their territory. Cats were yearning to stay somewhere, even if it wasn’t quite their old home back in WindClan territory.

Maybe that was why all of the cats were pretty optimistic when Deadfoot reunited with the travelling group after he had strayed off for a bit, talking of a place they’d be able to stay for awhile.

“Are you sure?” Of course, Tallstar had been confused, how just like that he had found a spot.

The tom shifted in the spot he was standing. “It isn’t the best, but it’ll work, especially considering Morningflower and her current condition.”

Tallstar seemed to think for a moment, before nodding. “Very well, Deadfoot. Please lead us there.”

It didn’t take long to get there- after all, Deadfoot hadn’t been gone for long. And when they got there, to put it simply, the cats were pretty underwhelmed (although not ungrateful, they knew they would have to take whatever they could get in this situation.)

Firepaw looked over the place. It was a large pipe of sorts, located underneath a Thunderpath, with water up to his ankles and little jutting ledges along the walls. There was moss coating the walls and water dripping from it and from the walls every once in a while.

It was not very appealing, and definitely  _ very _ unlike WindClan's preferred living style, but he would have to deal with it, considering that they’d have to use it for proper shelter for StarClan knows how long.

"This will have to do for now," said Tallstar, inspecting the insides of the cave. "I know this isn't how WindClan should be living, but it's our best bet for shelter right now."

The WindClan cats cautiously padded inside. It wasn't as big as the actual camp, but there was still enough space so that it didn't feel completely crowded. There weren't really any extra spaces for proper dens, so they had to settle sharing ledges that were jutting out from the walls. Not that they really spent much time sitting around- most cats were busy bustling around the makeshift camp once they settled in, and many others out collecting materials or on hunting patrols.

After a few minutes of resting on one of the ledges that Firepaw and the other apprentices had agreed they could sleep on together, he saw Tallstar approach him. The leader had been very busy, assigning jobs and checking progress and doing work himself, so Firepaw could only guess that he was going to have to do a job.

And of course, his suspicion turned out to be true.

“Firepaw, Webpaw, Whitepaw.” The three apprentices that had been mentioned were the only ones on the apprentices' ledge- Onepaw and Runningpaw had already been assigned work. “I want you to go out and get materials for Morningflower’s nest, and then come back and make it for her.”

The three apprentices each nodded respectively after hearing their leader speak. Tallstar dipped his head in approval before heading off to supposedly assign jobs to other cats, and afterwards Firepaw, Webpaw and Whitepaw all got off of the ledge and headed outside.

It was pretty late in the day, and Firepaw could see an orange and pink tint on the horizon, along with the setting sun in the distance. A faint wind blew, a bit chillier than the  usual warm temperature of the moor, but nothing that the apprentices couldn't handle for a simple task such as collecting items for a nest.

"So," Whitepaw said, breaking the silence, "we need moss, right? There should be some around here somewhere." It was strange, hearing the usually cheery and bubbly apprentice using such a blank, neutral tone, but Firepaw supposed that the same could be applied to all of the WindClan cats. They were tired and on edge, but at least they had a proper "camp" now, no matter how unappealing it really was.

Webpaw nodded, before adding, “if we happen to come across some feathers or dry leaves, we can add that as well.”

The following silence was enough of an answer to show that they understood.

That was, for the most part, the longest conversation they held for most of the task; that is, until Whitepaw broke the silence with a groan as they were digging through a spot at the bottom of a tree for moss.

The two toms looked up. “Huh?” Webpaw asked, visibly confused and surprised at the sudden noise.

“This is terrible,” she said, and to her mutter Firepaw couldn’t help but glumly think,  _ Yeah, tell me something new _ . “I  _ know  _ I’m supposed to be all optimistic or whatever about this, but really? How  _ can  _ I be that? I mean, of course I’ll do whatever I’m told, but for StarClan’s sake I just want to relax for a bit.”

Firepaw looked at her with a sympathetic look on his face. “Me and Webpaw can finish the job for-”

He was cut off by the molly. “No!” she snapped, a scornful look unlike her usual expression painted on her face with a downturned snout and slanted eyes. “I don’t want to just sit around at camp and be useless! That wouldn’t help. I want to get all this work done. And I know that isn’t going to happen with me just sitting around, even if I want to do it.” She seemed conflicted.

Firepaw opened and closed his mouth, but before he could say anything Webpaw spoke up. “Well, as soon as we finish this we can just hang out, okay? So then you know you helped a cat who really needs it, and then you can just relax for awhile.”

Webpaw’s words seemed to calm her down, because she just sighed and continued to gather moss as a response.

After that whole thing, the rest really  _ was  _ quiet. Firepaw's thoughts travelled to the events that had happened recently, which was really all that the apprentice  _ could _ think about nowadays. He could only hope that things like herb gathering and hunting were more successful, now that they were in a more natural territory for WindClan cats. He had barely gotten enough to eat in the past few days, and the deep wounds that the ShadowClan warrior had given him on his belly still occasionally stung if he walked for long distances (which had been necessary for the last few days.)

Once they finished with collecting moss and leaves, they headed back to the makeshift camp and headed over to the impregnated queen to make her the nest they had gathered materials for. She had shot them a grateful, tired-looking smile after they finished before settling down into it. The swell of her belly had grown substantially since they were booted from WindClan territory.

As the trio was heading back to the ledge, they stopped as they heard a group of warriors speaking with Tallstar.

“We tried to hunt, but there were twolegs everywhere,” one of them said, with a note of scornful hopelessness to his voice.

“It might cause an issue for other groups as well,” another added, her voice having a similar feel to it.

Tallstar spoke up. “Alright. Please go tell Deadfoot so he can inform the next patrols he assigns.”

And just like that, the warriors left. Filling their place was Barkface. “I’ll be out for a bit collecting herbs," the medicine cat said as soon as he locked eyes with his leader. "I wanted to ask if I could go out for awhile. I should be back before sunrise, though.”

Tallstar nodded, flicking his tail dismissively at Barkface. "Go ahead, we'll need all that we can get. However, please go tell Tornear to accompany you, he’s working on building up some defenses. Just tell him that I need him to be with you," he meowed. After Barkface nodded and left, most likely to get Tornear, and once he was gone, the WindClan leader padded up to Firepaw, who only noticed in that moment that the other apprentices had left to lay on the ledge.

“Firepaw,” he began, although the addressing wasn’t very necessary considering how Firepaw already had his full attention, “do you have any questions?”

At first Firepaw was confused, but then realized that considering how he had sat and stared at Tallstar probably prompted the thought that he had a question. Although now that he actually thought about it, he sort of did.

“Er- yes, I do, actually…” he cleared his throat, glancing off so he didn’t meet his mentor’s eyes. “I was just- you know, wondering…” he mumbled, before sighing, figuring he should just put it out flatly and how it was. “Will we ever return to WindClan’s territory?”

Tallstar’s expression softened, and he sat down. “I don’t want to make a promise I can’t keep and say everything will be perfect, but no matter what we  _ will  _ get back, okay?”

Firepaw didn’t feel great, but he felt a bit more reassured at the very least. “Alright, thank you.”

As he was heading to sit with the other apprentices, he found himself questioning just how they would even be able to get back on their own, considering how there was no doubt ShadowClan cats guarding the territory they had been forced to flee, and they were no doubt prepared, most likely expecting for the WindClan cats to come back and try to reclaim their home.

And even if they  _ were  _ fully healed and ready, they would still be outnumbered, considering the stark contrast between the amount of able warriors in WindClan to those in ShadowClan, and it didn’t help that they had lost two in the last battle- if it could even be considered a battle considering how unfair and cheap it had been.

_ I just hope Tallstar is right, _ Firepaw thought as he laid his head on his paws.  _ I really, really hope so. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Commenting is strongly encouraged and welcomed.


	15. Chapter 14

#  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

 

The day after WindClan had fully settled into their new camp, Firepaw and Onepaw, along with their mentors, had been assigned to a hunting patrol, still keeping in mind the amount of twoleg activity around their new territory as they did so.

The cats from WindClan had settled more into the place, although the activity in the camp was still very high, with groups of cats bustling around to do jobs, but they had settled enough to send more cats on hunting patrols, which were needed due to the small amount of prey that they had caught so far in the new “territory.”

Naturally, due to its run-down look, there was hardly any prey around. The entire place was muddy and there were tons of things that could only be knocked over, rotting trees and crushed bushes. Along with that, there was constant noise from twolegs as well as the occasional monster that would pass by along the nearby Thunderpaths.

And even in the few times that prey was scented, the WindClan cats would struggle to catch them- after all, this place was a far cry from the moor they had been trained to hunt in. Hunting patrols would usually return to camp empty pawed, and the few prey that had been caught had to be shared well enough so that everyone got at least a mouthful or two a day, which  _ definitely _ was not enough to keep WindClan surviving.

It was a recipe for almost everyone in the Clan to be constantly hungry. Thinking about it, Firepaw felt a pang of pity for the kits that Morningflower would be having soon. He thought back to what he could remember when he was a kit, and all of his memories, while blurry, were probably the easiest things he had ever experienced. Warm, on a stuffed bed, with his mother almost always beside him, and the warm bodies of his siblings pressed against his flank.

It was nearly the opposite of what the kits that would be coming soon would see first.

Almost as if by fate, things lined up with his very thoughts.

As the patrol was scouting out the area to try and see if there was any prey in sight, a distant call was heard, though both the source and what was being said wasn't the most clear thing. A moment later, the same cat's voice rang out, though much clearer this time.

"Tallstar!"

The patrol stopped in their tracks, turning around to face the source of the voice that had called the WindClan leader's name: Mudclaw. The warrior skidded to a halt, panting slightly, which prompted the patrol to watch the warrior in both confusion and curiosity.

"What's going on?" asked Tallstar.

Regaining his breath and composure, Mudclaw rose to his full height once again. "Morningflower is kitting. And Barkface wants you and Deadfoot back at camp to watch over her and help if necessary."

Tallstar didn’t respond, just jumped into action and began sprinting back towards the direction of the camp, with Deadfoot following right behind. Onepaw glanced at Firepaw and shrugged, before heading after the two mentors. Getting a hint, Firepaw followed.

It didn’t take long to get back, they hadn’t been out for long, so once they got back they immediately jumped into the cave. Deadfoot and Tallstar proceeded into the one cave that led from the main pipe, which was being used for Morningflower's kitting before she would move back with her kits to the larger ledge she had picked out.

Firepaw was about to head towards the nursery, but stopped in his tracks when Onepaw placed his tail on his back.

“Huh?” Firepaw glanced at his friend.

“We better leave them alone,” he laughed slightly, “kitting is a pretty personal thing, y’know?”

Firepaw’s ears warmed a little, and he laughed as well. “Yeah, I guess we can just do what we want in the meantime. Our mentors will be busy for awhile.”

Onepaw nodded in agreement, heading towards the apprentices' ledge, with his friend trailing after him. They leapt onto the ledge that the apprentices were using, and after a bit of silence, conversation ensued.

"All I can think of right now is just... what's been happening recently," Firepaw admitted.

Onepaw gave him a small smile. “There isn’t much else to think about, is there?” He paused, and looked at the wall with an unfocused gaze. “How have you been faring with this?”

Firepaw leaned back onto his haunches as he sat, sighing. “Well, not too good, really.” He looked at Onepaw to meet his eyes. “It’s just been a bit… overwhelming. We have a camp now, but I also just... miss our old home and territory. It's not the same here, y'know? I'm not ungrateful or anything, but it's just..."

Onepaw returned his gaze with a sympathetic look in his eyes. “Yeah, I know. But hey, we gotta take what we can get, huh?”

"That's true," Firepaw replied. He remembered Tallstar promising him that they would be able to get back to their old home soon enough, and that as well as his friend's words were enough to reassure him.

As he was thinking of WindClan's entire predicament, he remembered the other Clan that had denied Brokenstar's offer: ThunderClan. He wondered if they had suffered a similar fate as WindClan, which was involuntarily being driven out of their own territory. He shuddered at the thought; ShadowClan slowly taking over the two separate territories. Would RiverClan support them? He still didn’t know if Crookedstar had ever officially accepted Brokenstar’s request, but it seemed plausible from the way he had been considering. On the other hand, his Clan would probably be furious, judging from the crowd hissing, and even his deputy snapping at him in the middle of a Gathering. Would all of them even follow Crookedstar’s order if he demanded they aid ShadowClan?

As he thought about it, the possibilities of what could happen next swirled through his mind. What if RiverClan dared to go against their own leader? What if they caused an uprising? It was a terrifying thought, and it didn’t even seem too far from the area of possibility.

And if Brokenstar drove ThunderClan out, what would happen next? What if they went back and all got killed, and, say if RiverClan  _ did  _ help ShadowClan, they would have a big advantage, and it would be almost impossible to return if the two Clans worked together to keep the others out.

Firepaw was snapped out of his trance as Onepaw nudged him, a bewildered look on his face. “Are you okay?”

Firepaw smiled weakly at his friend, feeling his nerves like a harp that was being plucked by the hands of an expert, growing faster and faster as the performance went on. 

“No,” he admitted, smile faltering. “I’m just… thinking about what RiverClan did after the Gathering. And what could’ve happened to ThunderClan. And what would result from all that.” He fumbled over his words as they spilled out in a rush, looking at his paws. “There’s so many bad outcomes- what if ShadowClan uses RiverClan to take over the territories?”

Onepaw was silent for a few moments, before curling his tail with Firepaw’s, and squeezed comfortingly. “I’m not going to deny that those things might be possible,” he began, “but think about it- have faith in the other Clans. Do you really think Crookedstar would do that? I know you don’t know too much about him, but he really is a good leader for RiverClan, even if he is making a bad decision just now. And ThunderClan is strong, as much as I hate to admit it. The only reason we were kicked out is because our lack of warriors, alright? It has nothing to do with our skills or strength. ShadowClan, at least right now, is just full of cowards.”

Firepaw sighed, but gave his friend a grateful look. Even if he wanted to respond, though, he didn’t get the chance.

Whitepaw came bustling over to the two chatting apprentices, with Runningpaw close beside her, smiling at the white molly, and Webpaw trailing behind, looking like he felt awkward.

The three leapt up onto the ledge. Whitepaw took one look at them, before sitting down and beginning to talk a mile a minute.

“So we were just out hunting with Runningpaw and Webpaw’s mentor. We were almost caught by twolegs! Did you know that they can be bright pink and really short? Oh yeah, you probably do. You were a kittypet, right? Yeah, you were. But this particular twoleg had these other two big ones a few tail-lengths away. They didn’t even budge when the small one came running after us! Oh gosh, what happened next was priceless! Tornear ran up this tree and we didn’t find him until like… forever later. But this little twoleg was still going after us and screaming and stuff and we just kept going and going- they were really determined! Eventually I think it was the bigger ones that started yelling at them. They quickly stopped after that, but gosh, it was so scary! Webpaw eventually decided that what Tornear did was smart and went up as well, even though the twoleg running after us was gone. Webpaw, you shouldn’t have done that. We were chatting and laughing after! Well, not you. Or did you go up to find Tornear? Or-” the white molly finally stopped, breathing a large gasp of air, before looking up to smile at the two startled apprentices.

Firepaw opened and closed his mouth, unsure where to start with a response. “Er- and- and why was this so good?”

Whitepaw grinned in response, tilting her head. “What do you mean, why? It was fun! I haven’t had that kind of adrenaline rush in forever!”

“Right… right.” Firepaw muttered, glancing at Webpaw and Runningpaw, wondering if they had been dealing with this the entire walk back. Not to mention the already usually grumpy Mudclaw.

Onepaw finally spoke up. “I wish I’d have been there! Why did you get so-”

Whatever he said next, Firepaw drained it out and settled down, resting his head on his paws.

\---

 

The apprentices had been talking about StarClan knows what for awhile now- Firepaw had drowned them out with his thoughts almost immediately- and it was unexpected when they were suddenly cut off, and Firepaw snapped out of his thoughts.

They were busily chatting- “they” being mainly Onepaw and Whitepaw with occasionally Runningpaw and no Webpaw. It really surprised Firepaw that Onepaw could keep up with Whitepaw with how fast she was talking. Or maybe he was just pretending like he knew what she was saying, and just said stuff that he thought fit. For all Firepaw knew, Whitepaw could be talking about the sand at the bottom of a lake while Onepaw thought she was talking about the clouds in the sky. Nonetheless, it was impressive he could say stuff that made sense to her according to what topic she was rattling on about.

But no matter  _ what  _ she was talking about, she was quickly shut down when a wail filled with grief and pain rang around the entire cave, sounding like it was coming from the very back of it.

Firepaw immediately sprang from the ledge and darted towards the back of the cave, and although he couldn't see them, he felt as though the other four apprentices were following him as well. A few cats were standing in front of Morningflower's den, which is where Firepaw had assumed the wail came from.

There was muffled sobs coming from inside the den, and Tallstar emerged, with Deadfoot close behind, and the two began herding most of the cats away. When the leader looked at the apprentices, he scanned them with a quick look, before humming quietly and stepping aside so they could continue into the den.

The five young cats rushed forward, and the first thing they saw was Morningflower hugging three tiny figures to herself, sobbing softly into the fur of them, each with various different colors.

_ They look like… kits? _

__ Firepaw glanced at Barkface, who was trying to pry a small orange and white tom from his mother.

“Shh… come on… I need to see him, okay? I might be able to help him.”

Morningflower froze at the words, and reluctantly loosened her grip on the tom, so Barkface quickly took the orange and white tabby from her clutches. 

After the long silence from the apprentices, Whitepaw shoved her way through the apprentices and rushed over to her adoptive mother, looking both confused and sympathetic. Firepaw stumbled back, knocking into Webpaw.

The rest of the apprentices seemed to get the memo, and each exited the nursery silently, the quiet sobs, now accompanied by Whitepaw’s gentle shushing, ringing in their ears.

It did for the rest of the day, and Whitepaw didn’t leave the nursery until the moon was well up in the sky.

 

\---

 

It really wasn’t a surprise when, late the next day, a yowl rang around camp from Tallstar, who was sitting on the ledge that he slept on. The groggy cats, who had just been settling into sleep, slowly grew more alert as they leapt from their respective ledges and looked up at their leader.

The black-and-white tom studied the crowd, and when he seemed to deem it was everyone who was available, he spoke. “Barkface has an announcement.”

The leader stepped aside so the brown tom could come forward, and after a moment's notice he began speaking. “I’m sure you heard some noises from the nursery yesterday. Everything is under control.” He frowned, pausing, “however, last night, Morningflower kitted three kits. Two were unable to last for very long. We will now be holding a vigil for Storkkit and Quailkit. May they rest happily in StarClan.”

The leader and medicine cat leapt down from the ledge, and went into the nursery to supposedly retrieve the two kits’ bodies. They emerged again, with Morningflower trailing slowly behind them, head down and expression sullen. The two headed for the exit, and the rest of the Clan followed in suit.

When they finally set the two bundles of fur down outside, the Clan crowded around the two small bodies. Firepaw felt Onepaw and Runningpaw settle in on either side of him, and he could see Whitepaw next to Morningflower. Webpaw was probably mixed up with the cats somewhere.

After observing what the other cats were doing, he copied, and tilted his head forward to press his nose to one of the kits’, a grey and white molly’s, flank. The pelt was terrifyingly cold. The eyelids had already been shut, so Firepaw couldn’t see their blank stare thankfully. His heart swelled with pity for the small cats. They had been born already switched out like a light, with no chance to ever prove themselves or serve their Clan. They would never be able to hunt or fight or make friends...

Firepaw retracted his nose eventually, stepping back so another cat could pay their respects. Runningpaw and Webpaw soon did the same.

After a while of this, Morningflower and Whitepaw (who insisted she do the other kit, despite the deputy’s protests) carried the kits away to presumably bury them. By then, the moon was in the sky, and the stars littered it. The other apprentices only did what they could- leave to rest on the apprentices' ledge.

It was just before he fell asleep that Firepaw realized that this vigil would be the first of many.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: In this AU, due to Whitetail not having a specific mother/father, we improvised and made her an orphan who was adopted by Morningflower. Thank you.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Remember that commenting is always encouraged and welcomed!


	16. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick trigger warnings for:
> 
> panic attacks / panic induced flashbacks

Although the memory of Morningflower's two deceased kits was on the mind of every WindClan cat, they still got back to their usual duties the next day. And early on that next day, Tallstar had approached Firepaw, telling his apprentice that they could try and continue training, although they weren't in the best circumstances.

Since Firepaw was almost done with his hunting training, along with the fact that they needed battle training done as soon as possible in case of another potential attack, they had decided to practice that. Not only that, but with the amount of twolegs and a lack of prey nearby, they probably couldn't have done any proper hunting training anyways.

So they settled for battle training in the end, and Firepaw wasn’t complaining. He knew very well he’d need it- the occasional pang from his belly reminded him of that. But now they had to deal with the issue of finding a spot to train. This should’ve been an easy task, but as they searched and searched it proved to be a far cry from just settling in a random clearing.

The territory really wasn’t a hotspot for training- nearly the opposite, really. There was knocked over trees and crushed bushes all over the place, with little bugs swarming the sticky mud underpaw. The mud lasted for awhile as they walked, and the territory where the ground was dry was better, but Firepaw noted how the amount of holes, ditches, and caves would be very unsuitable for battle training, as well as there still being a knocked over tree or some other obstacle every now and then.

And they couldn't go that far without straying far from the camp; they needed to be close enough for WindClan to be able to find them if something somehow went wrong while they were absent from their camp.

This proved to be bothersome for both of them, Tallstar just wanting an okay spot to train his apprentice, and Firepaw slowly deflating more and more from the excitement at the news of getting back to battle training.

Training back on proper WindClan territory was much easier. The ground was  _ much _ flatter compared to where they were, and there were much fewer obstacles in the way. It only made Firepaw miss his old home more.

The two were very relieved when they did manage to find a spot. It wasn’t the best, with a root sprouting from the ground and creating a block between the two, and also cracking the dry earth as it sprouted out and remerged with the ground. But it was the best they could find, and so they settled for it.

Tallstar took position opposite of Firepaw, who did the same. “We can just do a quick spar right now. I’ll be a bit more gentle- I know your belly wound is still healing- but I want to get an idea of what you immediately go to do in a fight and what you decide to use before I teach you anything new.”

Firepaw nodded, crouching down to get ready for his mentor. It didn’t take long for him to lung at the orange tabby, knocking him back so he was forced to stumble back to the edge of the clearing. He shook his head, regathering himself,  _ Come on, you can’t get distracted so easily. He gave you one hi- _

Tallstar slammed into him again, this time pinning him down with a paw at the apprentice’s throat. Firepaw’s breath caught in his throat, and he found himself thinking of the ShadowClan warrior digging his teeth into his neck.

Unlike that, Tallstar hopped off of him, and backed up, muttering to the younger tom, “you always need to be alert,” before crouching again.

This time the apprentice found himself more prepared when his mentor lunged at him, as he figured he might as well learn from his mistakes even if he couldn’t full focus on the spar.

So rather than being shoved back, he sidestepped, and waited for Tallstar to land. The large tom slid against the ground before skidding to a halt, and Firepaw took his chance to slam his own shoulder into his mentor’s.

Tallstar stumbled to the side, before spinning to face Firepaw again. He began moving in a zigzag pattern that Firepaw didn’t recognize. Firepaw frowned, and began scurrying backwards, but he was proven to be too slow when Tallstar lunged at him. He pushed his paws into Firepaw’s chest, knocking the air out of the apprentice and forcing him backwards as he attempted to catch his breath after having his mentor slam his paws where his lungs were placed.

Tallstar of course took this chance to shoot forward, pressing both of his front paws against his chest against and knocking him to the ground. The air was knocked out of Firepaw once again, and he choked slightly, struggling helplessly under the grip of his mentor.

Eventually a sympathetic look crossed Tallstar’s features, and he jumped off of his apprentice, who got up and began trying to catch his breath. Tallstar shot him an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry, that was unfair. I haven’t taught you either of the moves I just used.” He laughed, “I guess I got a bit ahead of myself.”

After Firepaw managed to catch his breath again, he mumbled a response. “S’fine. Can you show me how to do that- that- that er…” he trailed off.

“Where I knocked into your chest?”

“Yeah. That.” Firepaw could recall how effective at had been on him.

“It’s fairly simple,” Tallstar began, “you just need to slam your paws down on your opponent’s chest as hard as possible. It’s an easy way to force the breath out of them- but it takes a fair amount of practice to be able to force the air out of them in one move.”

Firepaw nodded, looking up to meet Tallstar’s gaze. “I guess we can continue to spar- I could try to put that into it at some point.”

Tallstar nodded in approval. “It’s a bit hard to predict it and dodge, but it is rare that a cat will do it with claws unsheathed, since there is no point, so if they are coming at you with sheathed claws and you’re in an actual battle it is a good chance they’ll use it. During sparring like this it is very difficult to tell, though.”

Firepaw crouched down, signifying he was ready for Tallstar to begin the spar. When Tallstar didn’t make a move towards Firepaw, the apprentice figured that he was signaling that Firepaw would be starting.

Firepaw hummed to himself, wondering what he should start with, before darting to the left of Tallstar and slamming into his flank. 

The leader stumbled, but quickly recovered and lunged at the apprentice, who was still figuring out what to do next.  _ I really should have planned further. _

But when his mentor knocked into him, shoving him to the ground, the ground around the two crumbled, long cracks forming along the dry earth and pulling open slightly. Tallstar jumped off of Firepaw, but when his paws made contact with the earth, it just crumbled further. Chunks of earth began sinking down, and when Firepaw got back up to try and get away, the ground beneath him sank down. Tallstar leapt forward, presumably to help him, but he was forced down as well.

The two began struggling, and Firepaw could smell strong fear radiating from his mentor.

Firepaw looked around, and then up, and realized the two of them had fallen into a small sinkhole.

As the apprentice looked around, he saw his mentor's sides rising and falling quicker than normal along with his breathing. Though, as he looked around in the small, closed off space, he couldn't do much to help Tallstar, as he could feel his own panic starting to rise.

Firepaw's heart began pounding rapidly the more he was trapped down in the crowded sinkhole.

Firepaw looked at the tight walls around him. His breath caught in his throat and he didn’t even have the strength to claw at them, and he just shrank as small as he could. The cramped spot brought memories back to him.

Although not terrible ones, they certainly weren’t happy ones for Firepaw.

Images of the old house that he had been confined to for his whole life prior to joining WindClan flashed through his mind, and he felt his conscious spirit slowly slipping as he felt as if he was being dragged back to that small, cramped house.

He could recall the calls of his housefolk- no, no, twolegs- they were twolegs- he wasn’t a kittypet- he  _ would  _ use the proper terminology- as well as the clatter of his hard food pellets dropping into his food bowl, even the muffled chirping of birds, blocked from the thick glass that made it only an illusion that he could just jump away.

He could remember waking in his bed, with no one but his housefolk-  _ twolegs _ \- around him, and feeling like the days dragged on in such a dull, repetitive, torturous way. Any trace of dirt around him turned to the multi-colored walls of his old home. The same walls he had woken up to every morning, and had fallen asleep to every night.

He knew it was irrational to be thinking it- it was the small conscious part of his brain reminding him- but he couldn’t grasp himself enough to really return.

That is until he saw movement. He wasn’t pulled back fully, but he could see the faraway shape of Tallstar leaping and pulling himself out of the hole.

Some part of him heard Tallstar yell something at him.

_ Tallstar. _

Firepaw choked on his air- he was with the Clan, right? WindClan... Tallstar had accepted him- taken him as his apprentice- dutifully trained him so he would be ready in the Clan world-

But it wasn’t enough. He couldn’t get rid of the images of his old home.

A part of his mind felt himself being grasped by the scruff and being pulled out of that wretched hole. Firepaw gasped out air, taking in the scents of the rundown swamp with desperate vigor.

He didn’t notice Tallstar again until the tom had his tail set on his back, and was leaning down to meet his apprentice’s gaze. He began mouthing something- or maybe he was saying something?- Firepaw couldn’t be sure. He was still too dazed to notice much of what was around him.

It took a lot of his mouth moving for Firepaw to finally hear a distant whisper of what he was saying.

“Come on, Firepaw. I know it’s stressful- can you hear me? But we’re out now. There’s no risk- you look like you can understand me. Listen, alright? You’re okay. Nothing is going to happen to you- you’re here with me, you’re part of WindClan, we’re building up our strength.”

Tallstar stopped to study Firepaw’s expression, and the orange tabby nodded weakly, lifting his head slightly. After a few moments of silence, Tallstar began speaking again.

“I won’t pretend to know why that just happened, but you’re okay now. Try to breath deeply, eh?” At Firepaw’s lack of response, the WindClan leader continued. “Come on- breathe, eh? Four counts of breaths in, four counts out. You’re here- you can hear me.”

Firepaw did as instructed, and found himself slowly being brought to the rundown forest, with Tallstar speaking gently and the dry ground beneath him feeling stiff under his paws.

_ Dry ground. _

Firepaw stumbled back as if his paws were being burned, and frowned at Tallstar, finally deciding to speak.

“Can we-” he choked on the air he was breathing as he realized how raspy his voice was, but Tallstar was looking at him expectantly so he continued. “Can we get back to the mud? I don’t like being here…”

Tallstar smiled and nodded to him, seeming glad that Firepaw was speaking. “Yes, of course.”


	17. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for brief hiatus! 
> 
> Warnings:  
> Drowning (implied)  
> Death (implied)  
> Child death (implied)

Since the whole incident with Tallstar, the leader had visited Firepaw soon after and told him that they would take the next day off. And now it was the next day, and the apprentice found himself with relatively little to do. He found himself aimlessly dragging himself around the makeshift camp, listening to the conversations he picked up on as he passed by other cats. He found himself intrigued by one in particular.

“Have you seen how much water has been dripping down? The fresh kill pile is soaked! There’s probably a leak,” one of the conversing cats, Tornear, hissed.

“Isn’t it always leaking?” Maplespring muttered in response, ruffling her fur slightly.

“Well, of course it is, but it’s even more common now!”

Firepaw frowned as he listened to the conversation between the two warriors, keeping a closer eye on the dripping water from the walls and ceiling. It definitely seemed as if it was dripping at a much faster pace, which worried Firepaw the more he focused on it. And, now that he was also focusing on the outside of the camp, he could see that rain was pelting the mud outside. Luckily, there was still a small rise at the entrance that kept most of the water and mud out, but that didn’t help with the cracks in the walls and ceiling.

And, although he couldn't tell what was happening outside the best, it still seemed that the rain was gradually getting heavier and harder.

Firepaw forced himself to take his eyes off of the entrance.  _ It should hopefully pass soon, _ he told himself, although with his constantly rising worries he wasn't sure he could believe it just yet. He glanced around the camp, and upon spotting Onepaw grooming himself, padded over. The tabby tom glanced up upon seeing Firepaw sit nearby. Onepaw cocked his head, turning to face his friend.

“Hey, Firepaw,” he meowed, curling his tail around his paws. “What’s going on?”

Firepaw hummed, trying to think of how to respond. “I heard some gossip about water dripping more. It’s also raining pretty hard outside. I’m a bit worried.” He shot a glance at the entrance to the cavern, where rain was still steadily falling down.

Onepaw scanned the camp, verifying what Firepaw had said. “You’re right…” he muttered, expression growing worried. “I’m sure it’s fine though- just a storm that’ll pass soon. We were bound to get one eventually.”

“You’re probably right,” Firepaw muttered. “I just hope it passes sooner rather than later.”

Onepaw nodded, looking sympathetic. The two apprentices sat there in silence for a few more moments before Deadfoot padded over to the two.

“Come on, Onepaw. We need to go on a patrol,” the WindClan deputy mewed, eyes flitting between the two apprentices. 

Onepaw jumped to his paws, muttering a quick “good-bye” to his friend before padding away, and once again Firepaw found himself with nothing to do.

He glanced around, before deciding to just lay on the apprentice ledge and properly rest for a while. But as he was approaching, he noticed a rather one-sided conversation going on between Whitepaw and Runningpaw, with Whitepaw’s mouth quickly moving and Runningpaw watching with a look of amusement on her face.

As Firepaw watched, he veered off the path he had been taking, deciding not to deal with the wrath that would be an excited Whitepaw- although he did take note that she was starting to feel much better, much like her older self once again. Instead, he decided to go find Tallstar to formally thank him for helping him out the previous day, since he knew that his mentor deserved it.

Truth be told, he had been meaning to thank Tallstar, but he hadn't had much time to do so. He thought that now would be the perfect time to do just that.

He turned his direction to walk towards the leader’s den- or rather ledge- so he could speak to his mentor. He could see the large tom sitting and grooming himself, and Firepaw looked up at the ledge. 

“Er- hey, Tallstar?” he called softly, attempting to get his attention.

The tom turned his head, glancing at the tabby before flicking his tail to give his apprentice permission to enter- or rather, jump up.

Firepaw pulled himself up, facing Tallstar. “I just- y’know-” he fumbled with his paws, averting his gaze, before finally deciding to just spit it out, “I just wanted to thank you, really. You didn’t have to do what you did yesterday.”

Tallstar’s gaze softened. “Maybe I didn’t  _ have _ to, but there is no reason for me to not want to. I know what it’s like to be in that sort of situation, and it’s a lot worse without other cats to help you.”

Firepaw was curious what he meant by knowing what that situation was like, but decided not to delve further. “I also wanted to apologize. I… overreacted. The lesson even had to be shut down.”

Tallstar’s features flickered with surprise. “I… don’t be sorry. It’s no issue. You can’t stop it when something like that happens.”

Firepaw blinked in surprise before smiling gratefully at his mentor. He was about to respond, but the words died on his tongue when a yowl rose from the clearing below. The small orange tom turned his head to glance at the camp below.

His chest was filled with a heavy feeling of sticky, thick, gelatinous dread. There was water on the floor- a good tail-length of it, rising so it could flood the lower nest-shelves. There had always been a coat of water, but it came to nothing more than the ankle. This was enough to reach above the belly fur.

The leader’s shelf had been on a higher point, so neither Tallstar nor Firepaw noticed till they were alerted. But perhaps the worst part was the shelves it was able to reach.

Not only did it rise to one of the shelves that a few warriors shared, it also reached Morningflower’s and Ashfoot’s, which had been low due to Morningflower needing to be able to climb up on it back when she was still pregnant.

But now the molly was looking around with fear-glazed eyes, the small shape of her only living kit in her jaws. Gorsekit, he had been named, after all the fuss with Storkkit and Quailkit.

Ashfoot on the other hand, was desperately looking around, movements quick and sporadic and showing instability. As Firepaw was looking at the situation, he realized that Tallstar had already leapt down and rushed over to help Morningflower take Gorsekit outside of the cave.

Firepaw also realized most of the cats were helping each other out of the cavern, the water levels increasing higher and higher as each moment passed.

Realizing that he should stop staring at the situation like a paralyzed frog, he leapt down into the action. He recoiled when he felt how intensely cold the water was, but remembered what he had planned to do. Cold water really shouldn't be the one thing stopping him from helping his Clanmates, after all.

He splashed over to Ashfoot, who was still desperately looking around, eyes wide and fearful.

“Ashfoot- hey, hey, what is the issue?” Firepaw asked, not knowing for sure if she would even hear him.

To his surprise, she actually responded. “Eaglekit.” Her voice was filled with a heavy amount of strain, and held so much tensity a cat could have been demanding something while holding claws to her throat and it would have had a similar sound.

But then as Firepaw noted this, he went over what Ashfoot had  _ actually  _ said. Eaglekit wasn’t in Ashfoot’s jaws, and that was the first thing he noticed, and then he noticed how the small grey tom was nowhere in sight, and then he realized how it linked with Ashfoot’s odd behavior.

Ashfoot must’ve seen that Firepaw realized what had happened, and shook her head desperately. “Oh, StarClan! I promise it wasn’t my fault- I sent him to play. Usually I don’t! But he’s been so unhappy here, and I didn’t want to stop him. I didn’t know this would happen. He didn’t either. I thought he’d return right away if something like this were to happen. But…” she desperately shoved through the water, head swinging around. “He isn’t in the spot I saw him last.”

Firepaw took a moment to soak up the information that he had just been told, before looking around as well. Eaglekit could be anywhere in the camp, really, and the kit didn’t know how to swim.

Deciding that Ashfoot probably knew what she was doing, he left her to search that specific spot so he could cover more ground to look for the kit. 

He found himself splashing around under the collection of warriors shelves, now vacated due to the panic in the camp. The water was still cold- paralyzingly so- sending chills down his spine and forcing him to freeze up and twitch in shock of the water every so often. It was hard to pay attention to searching for the kit due to this reason.

He was not used to cold in any way whatsoever- in leaf-bare at twolegplace he’d stay at home curled up. And for almost all the time at WindClan, it had been sunny and bright. Only very recently had the first snow begun to fall. He had considered it beautiful when he first really felt and saw it, even if he was traveling towards what could be his doom through a destroyed forest. Delicate, slow little bits falling from the sky. 

But the leaf-bare now seemed an obstacle, because it chilled the water to an unbearable temperature, so his vision blurred slightly and his thoughts slowed. For StarClan’s sake, he could’ve seen Eaglekit and just hadn’t realized it due to his current state. 

He hadn’t interacted with the little tom too much, not visiting the nursery too often, wanting to give the queens privacy, but he knew that Ashfoot would be devastated, as well as Morningflower, and maybe even Whitepaw, who had grown up with him as well as constantly visited the nursery.

It was as these thoughts shot through his mind did he spot a small, furry, grey lump floating on the water, moving only slightly. 

Firepaw rushed over, picking it up and splashing out into the open to leap atop one of the shelves to confirm whether or not something was really wrong. As he gently placed the kit on the wet rock, he gently touched him. When Firepaw realized that he was cold to the touch, he leaned down to see if the kit was breathing.

He was, although it was raspy and slow. Even as Firepaw desperately tried to warm him up, the kit remained cold as ice. The orange tabby looked around, scanning the camp for Ashfoot, and when he pinpointed her, he yowled across the clearing to get her attention, causing some cats who were still left in the camp to glance at him.

“Ashfoot! Ashfoot! I found him!”

The queen’s response was immediate. She rushed through the water, loud splashes sounding behind her as she went. In only a flurry of a moment, she was on the shelf as well, leaning down to press her nose to Eaglekit’s flank.

“He’s cold. Where did you find him?”

Firepaw shifted in his spot. “He was floating on the water under this shelf.”

Ashfoot was silent in response, the air impossibly thick with the molly’s fear.

     A weak noise came from her, followed by a small whisper that Firepaw couldn’t make out. The tom leaned back on his haunches, eyeing the small shape and fumbling with his paws.

_     He might die. He is probably going to die. _

     In one hurried movement, the queen swept her kit to her belly, gently holding the dripping shape to herself. Hardly thinking of the words coming out of his mouth, Firepaw said, “Maybe have Barkface check on him... just in case…”

     Ashfoot was silent for a few long moments, and Firepaw wondered if she could even hear him at all. Though, after a thick pause, the queen nodded weakly. Firepaw wasn't even sure if the medicine cat would be able to save the kit, who looked as if he were halfway to StarClan already, though he kept those thoughts to himself.

     When Ashfoot didn’t move, Firepaw figured he should get Barkface himself. As he scanned the camp, he realized the medicine cat must’ve already left to tend to the cats that had already gotten out. It seemed only Ashfoot and Firepaw remained in the echoey tunnel.

     He leapt from the ledge, rushing towards the exit, wincing once more at the sharp cold that flushed through him as he touched the water once again. 

     He rushed through the water towards the wide open exit, seeing the majority of the Clan sitting outside, the still falling rain pelting them. Firepaw easily pinpointed the medicine cat, who was talking with Deadfoot, glancing around at the Clan every so often, a worried look clearly displayed on his face.

     Firepaw didn’t like interrupting the two, but he knew he needed the medicine cat. He rushed over.

     “Barkface.” He addressed the medicine cat, who turned to look at Firepaw with faint surprise, watered down by the clear stress in his eyes. Deadfoot also glanced at the apprentice, a similar expression to the medicine cat on his face as well.

     “Ashfoot. I mean- Eaglekit. They’re inside. They need help.”

     Barkface blinked slowly, before rushing towards the entrance without a word. Firepaw glanced at Deadfoot, unsure if he should return to the queen, but when the deputy gave him a reassuring nod, Firepaw scurried back into the camp.

     Barkface was already on the ledge, gently trying to pry the kit from his mother’s desperate hold. Firepaw rushed over. Barkface glanced at him with surprise, and Ashfoot didn’t seem to even notice him.

     Firepaw gently laid his tail on the queen’s spine, which she did seem to notice. He suddenly wished that Whitepaw was in his place instead of him. 

     “You need to give him to Barkface,” Firepaw said gently, glancing at the kit in her grasp. “He’ll have a chance if you do.”

     At Firepaw’s mention of Eaglekit “having a chance,” her fearful look intensified and her muscles stiffened. Almost robotically, she placed the grey heap on the stone before Barkface. The medicine cat picked the small body up in his jaws, flicking his tail for the queen and, by extension, Firepaw, to follow as he exited the cavern once more.

     Firepaw stalled for a moment, watching as Ashfoot staggered to her paws. He could see the water levels still rising, and he quietly urged the queen to hurry- he didn't want any more possible casualties today. After regaining her composure, Ashfoot nodded, leaping off of the ledge and wading through the water the best that she could, Firepaw on her heels.

     The two cats eventually made it outside, the rain still falling steadily and soaking every cats' pelts. Firepaw barely had any time to think before he was almost knocked over by Onepaw, who had suddenly charged in front of him, eyes alight with panic.

     "Firepaw!" the apprentice exclaimed. "I heard about the cave flooding, and when I tried to look for you in the clearing, you weren't there! I thought you were still stuck in there after a while, and I was almost about to go back inside to see if I could find you."

     "Well, I  _ was _ still in there," responded Firepaw, and to tone down Onepaw's shocked gaze he added, "I was helping Ashfoot and Eaglekit. I'm fine, trust me."

_      But Eaglekit might not be _ , he thought, his mind flooding with images of the weak, helpless kit. He silently prayed that Eaglekit would be fine, that Barkface would save him.

     Before Onepaw could spew out any more worried sentences, a voice rang out above all of the cats. Although it was a bit difficult to make out some of the words from the wind and rain that pounded in Firepaw's ears, he knew that it was undoubtedly Tallstar's voice.

     "Cats of WindClan," the leader yowled, "because of the unexpected flooding of our already temporary camp, we will have to find another place to rest at, at least until the rain stops."

     Most cats nodded their heads, probably too tired to argue, though he heard a few quiet arguments against the idea- not out of anger, but out of sadness after having lost yet another camp.

_      Please, StarClan,  _ Firepaw thought,  _ let us have an opportunity to return home, soon. _


	18. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! Things get interesting here. Very few trigger warnings.  
> Trigger warnings:  
> Child death (mentioned)

 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

 

    Although they were still a bit shaken from the previous events that had happened too quickly to process, WindClan had managed to find another temporary home until they could move back into their cavern one. 

    The place was far from ideal, even worse than the already-temporary pipe home, although that opinion might just have been formed due to the cats getting better used to the other home.

    It was a muddy ditch that ran the length of a copse of low-hanging trees. The leaves from the branches hung about a tail length or two over the opening of the ditch, creating only slight coverage from the harsh weather. 

    It was cold, really cold. There were thick globs of frozen rain pelting the cats. Maybe they wouldn’t mind as much if it was snow, but it was only strikingly cold droplets of water, pressing the fur, dark, light, thick, thin, to the skin of all of the cats in the banished Clan alike.

    None of their expectations were necessarily high for getting yet another makeshift home, but they certainly expected better than this. 

    Firepaw and his Clanmates descended into the muddy ditch, and the orange tabby cringed at how his paws squelched into the sticky brown liquid, creating dozens of fresh imprints from all the cats. The boom of Tallstar and Deadfoot’s combined voices became a distant hum as Firepaw blindly wandered to his designative spots, in which he had all the apprentices alongside him as well as Fallowhawk, the only elder. The six cats settled beside each other, soaking into the cold, squishy mud, pressing against each other in order to help preserve warmth. The other sections of cats would be in rows aligned with Firepaw’s own. Ordinarily, back in WindClan’s real territory, the dens, especially the warriors’ den, would be in circles to preserve warmth, and would often switch night positions in order to make it as fair as possible. But now they were doing it simply for convenience of just being closely knit together.

    The mud weaved through Firepaw’s brown-stained fur, trapping him in the leaf bare's cold even as he was pressed up with Whitepaw on one side and Onepaw on the other. The orange tom let out a quiet sigh, his breath visible in front of him due to how cold it was. He closed his eyes, deciding to see how long he could rest.

    He’d been ignoring Tallstar’s calls, but now his recognizable meeting call struck through the air and penetrated Firepaw’s blockade. The apprentice sat up, blinking a few times before fixing his gaze on his leader.

    “All cats who can catch their own prey, gather for a Clan meeting.” The large tom paused, clearing his throat. “Now, I will not force you to get up, as most of you have only just settled in, but me and Barkface have an announcement, and I would like to ask that you please listen.” He signalled for the medicine cat to step forward.

    Barkface did so, eyes surveying the crowd of sitting cats. “I am sorry to announce we have lost yet another cat.” He paused so his words could sink in, and the camp went silent with understanding. It was not hard to guess who was ‘lost.’ “Eaglekit didn’t live very long after the flood. We will hold a silent vigil. The body will be here for those who want to pay respects.”

    Barkface quickly scurried off to retrieve the deceased kit and place it in the centre of the clearing. The first ones to rise to their paws for the vigil were Ashfoot, of course, eyes glazed with wetness, as well as Morningflower, Whitepaw, Deadfoot, and Tallstar, followed by some of the other cats of the Clan who wanted to bid the kit farewell.

    Firepaw, on the other hand, could hardly move. A heavy sense of grief settled over him as the thought of finding the frozen, already half-dead kit floating on the floodwater. How, just before finding the cold body, he had been wrapped up in his own thoughts, hardly even _paying attention_ to his surroundings. 

    And upon being reminded of these images, his mind was flooded with _what-ifs_. What if he had decided to pay more attention to looking for him? What if it was another warrior who happened to approach Ashfoot first? What if he had decided to get help instead of deciding to just trust himself and Ashfoot to look? The list of questions went on, and it filled him with an unbreakable feeling of dread.

    Webpaw, the only other apprentice that hadn’t gone to pay vigil with Eaglekit yet, must have noticed his distraught expression, because he raised his head to meet the other tom’s eyes.

    “You were the one who found him, huh?” The question was rhetorical, but Firepaw couldn’t understand this in his dreary daze.

    “Er- huh?”

    Webpaw’s expression softened. “I heard you mentioning helping Eaglekit and Ashfoot to Onepaw earlier. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe she found him. But I have a hunch.”

    Firepaw tensed, turning his head in order to not meet his friend’s gaze. But his silence served as confirmation enough. 

    Webpaw moved so he was closer to the other tom, entwining their tails in a sign of comfort. Firepaw wasn’t too used to this, as the only time that they had done something like this, their roles had been reversed, but he was glad for the comfort nonetheless.

    “No one can stop StarClan’s selection. You know this, right?” Webpaw’s question was quiet, and more rhetorical than anything, but once again Firepaw didn’t realize this.

    “Well, of course,” Firepaw said, a slight undertone of frustration to his voice. “But maybe… I dunno… they would’ve changed their minds if I were to actually help him. Maybe if I tried harder or something...”

    Webpaw shook his head. “No, you did help him.”

    Firepaw’s brows furrowed in confusion, but he was silent.

    “Rather than dying alone in the water, he was able to spend his last moments with his mother. Something as small as that can bring a great amount of peace.”

    Firepaw sighed, but decided against arguing. Maybe in a later life he could apologize to Eaglekit. But for now he just squeezed Webpaw’s tail and set his head on his paws, hoping to catch a wink of sleep. He was only vaguely aware of when the others settled beside him, and could hardly remember when he fell asleep, Webpaw still pressed on one side, and at some point Onepaw on the other. 

 

\---

 

    Not long after sunrise, the Clan found they could return to the pipe. The rain had stopped long into the night, and by the morning only a small layer of frost remained that covered the ground. The mud had also become much less squishy and difficult to navigate through, but who knew how long that side effect would last.

    Thankfully, the exiled Clan hadn't strayed too far from their already temporary camp- and it wasn't like they couldn't, either, given their conditions from the previous night and all, as well as their desperation to find a new camp, even if it was half baked in quality. Nevertheless, Tallstar and Deadfoot took the lead as WindClan began to make the trek back to their home underneath the Thunderpath.

    Just as the Clan neared their temporary home again, Tallstar suddenly halted, waving his long tail to get his Clan's attention. "Me and Deadfoot will quickly check the condition to see if the cave really is safe," he meowed, loud enough for the Clan to hear him, before he and the deputy slowly padded into the mouth of the cave.

    Not much conversation occurred in the meanwhile; though Firepaw couldn't tell what was being said, a few quiet words were occasionally spoken from cat to cat. Although it wasn't as cold as it was the previous night, Firepaw shivered slightly, still not quite used to the colder than usual weather- although it might have also been out of slight anxiety as well.

    "Nervous?" asked Onepaw, sliding up next to his friend as he stared at the gaping entrance below the Thunderpath.

    "Aren't we all?" Firepaw replied. A constant mesh of worries and burdens had kept on falling on top of him, and although he was trying his hardest to get over it, he still wasn't able to get Eaglekit's death out of his mind. "Nervous" was an understatement; all Firepaw wanted to do was bury himself in a hole and force all of his worries away.

    Onepaw responded with a smile. “Fair. Although no harm in trying to be positive, right?” He pawed at the ground, pausing in his words, before adding, "Especially in times like this."

    Firepaw hummed quietly to himself, a thought quickly going through his mind. _It’s hard to pick out something positive in this._ He kept the thought to himself, though. No use burdening his friend with all of his hardships.

    It didn’t take too long for the leader and deputy to return. First Tallstar emerged, followed by Deadfoot. The cats of the Clan suddenly became more alert as the two showed themselves, eyes flashing with apprehension and ears positioned forward. 

    “After careful analysis of the cave,” Tallstar began, “we believe it is safe enough to return to. Although please be careful when going in and moving around, it is still very slippery. Deadfoot will be assigning hunting patrols soon.”

    The camp quickly flooded into the camp, immediately sparking with activity, although still keeping Tallstar's warning in mind as they did so. Most cats returned to the ledges that they had slept on before being forced out, others were quickly selected by Deadfoot to go and hunt, and the last ones helping the queens and elder settle in.

    Tallstar also excused Firepaw from his break and putting him back on training, as well as offering to do a hunting session together. The apprentice agreed immediately, and as he was hunting and occasionally speaking with his mentor, he was glad to have some sort of distraction from his problems.

 

\---

 

    After the flooding fiasco had happened, no other major disastrous events had occurred for about a moon, and it seemed that WindClan was faring better than they had been ever since they had first arrived to their tunnel home.

    Firepaw stretched his limbs, yawning, and sat up on the apprentices' ledge. No other apprentice was there- they must have all gone out for duties- and Firepaw was about to consult his mentor for something to do before he was suddenly interrupted from doing so.

    "Firepaw!" The aforementioned apprentice turned towards the source of the voice, which was none other than Onepaw. The apprentice skidded to a halt in front of his friend, and Firepaw watched him curiously.

    "What is it?"

    "I was gonna ask if you wanted to go hunting," replied Onepaw. "Well, obviously we'd have to ask first, but I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me."

    "Oh, sure." Although wanted to ask Tallstar if they could do battle training or something similar- something that they had been doing more often ever since WindClan's exile- he wouldn't mind going hunting with his friend. Besides, battle training could wait. "Let's go ask Tallstar," he added, before heading off to find his mentor, Onepaw close behind.

    Tallstar was, as usual, sitting on his ledge and watching over the camp's activity. Firepaw called his mentor's name to get his attention, and Tallstar met Firepaw's curious gaze with one of his own.

    "What is it?"

    "Me and Firepaw wanted to ask if we could go hunting," Onepaw chimed in before Firepaw could get the chance to ask.

    Tallstar hummed in thought for a few moments. "I suppose," he said, but not before adding, "however, I'll be accompanying you both, just in case something bad happens. We can't have two apprentices going off on their own in still foreign and dangerous territory, can we?"

    "I suppose not," Onepaw said.

    Tallstar nodded and leaped off of his ledge, before flicking his tail and signalling for the two apprentices to follow him. As they neared the entrance of the cave, however, a strange and slightly unfamiliar scent hit Firepaw's nose, although deep down, he felt that he also recognized it from somewhere.

    It seemed as if Tallstar and Onepaw scented it as well. Onepaw recoiled from it, while Tallstar froze, narrowing his eyes. "Who's there?" he called out, leaping out of the cave mouth and glancing back and forth.

    Firepaw and Onepaw slowly followed their leader, also looking around for anything unusual about their surroundings. Suddenly, the familiarity of the scent hit Firepaw, and he turned towards Tallstar. "Tallstar, is that..."

    Before Firepaw could finish his sentence, however, an extremely recognizable cat (at least, to Firepaw) was suddenly standing in front of the three WindClan cats. The fluffy grey fur, the darker stripe on his head, the bright yellow eyes...

    "Greypaw?" Firepaw exclaimed. "What are _you_ doing here?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	19. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super sorry for the brief hiatus!! But we're back with another chap :D
> 
> no trigger warnings for this one

#  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

 

"ThunderClan," Tallstar observed, half talking to himself, half talking to Greypaw. "What's a  _ ThunderClan _ cat doing all the way out here?"

"And how were you able to find us?" Onepaw added, looking at Greypaw suspiciously. Firepaw had to admit that his friend was right- it had been over a moon since WindClan had been driven from their territory, and surely no scent trail remained for a single apprentice to be able to follow them all the way out here. On top of that, a mountain of questions rolled into Firepaw's head: how was he able to sneak through WindClan territory without getting caught? Were any other cats with him? How long had he been on the journey?

And most importantly, why was he tracking down WindClan in the first place?

"First off," Greypaw began, sitting down and wrapping his tail around his front paws, "I'm  _ not _ here to launch an attack or anything. I'm just here by myself."

"And how do we know we can trust  _ one _ ThunderClan apprentice?" Tallstar asked, still suspicious of the ThunderClan apprentice's motives. Firepaw couldn't blame him for his suspicions.

Greypaw sighed. "Alright, look. My Clan doesn't even know I'm here. I came out here all the way on my own to bring your Clan back."

Well, that at least answered some of Firepaw's many questions.

Those two sentences were enough to shock the WindClan cats into silence. Firepaw was impressed to say the least- and "impressed" was most likely an understatement.

However, the silence didn't last long, and Tallstar took a step towards Greypaw. "Are you sure our territory is even  _ safe _ to go back to? What if there are still ShadowClan cats waiting to ambush us?"

Greypaw shifted nervously on his paws, averting the WindClan leader’s burning gaze. “I… can’t promise that. Although I’m sure Bluestar would be willing to help WindClan. Not sure about Crookedstar… but beside the point.”

Tallstar hummed thoughtfully. “Do you have any sort of confirmation that she would be willing to help WindClan?”

“Well… I don’t have any sort of spoken confirmation. But she certainly isn’t happy with what happened with ShadowClan. They kind of spat in the wound of WindClan disappearing later on.”

“Oh?” Tallstar frowned.

“They raided our camp- our medicine cat and deputy were killed, and four of our kits are gone. I have no doubt that Bluestar would help. Right now Yellowfang, the medicine cat from ShadowClan, is acting as our medicine cat. She fled from ShadowClan… the reasons why are pretty fuzzy, but one of our apprentices, Sandpaw, just found her and she was brought in. She probably left because of something happening in ShadowClan. Needless to say, nothing good is happening in that Clan.”

Tallstar seemed to think over this information, before gesturing to the makeshift camp’s wide entrance. “I would like to tell some of this to my Clan. There is a good chance we will be leaving tonight.”

Despite being the one to be attempting to convince him, Greypaw was visually surprised that Tallstar agreed so quickly. “R-really?” he sputtered, looking from Tallstar, to the entrance of WindClan's temporary camp, and back.

Tallstar nodded, waving his tail. "Follow me. I want you to explain this to the rest of WindClan yourself,” the WindClan leader meowed, before padding himself into the camp, with Greypaw trailing behind him, an unmistakable look of excitement on the young tom’s face.

Firepaw himself felt rather startled with how quick the whole exchange went. Onepaw didn’t seem to be in much of a different state. Onepaw glanced at Firepaw, a look flashing across his face.

“Wait… that was the apprentice you introduced me to at the gathering, right?” 

Firepaw scanned Onepaw’s expression, and when sensing no sign of a joke, he chuckled slightly. “That only just clicked?”

Onepaw shrugged, dismissing what Firepaw had said before quickly following the two cats that had already disappeared into the cave. Firepaw, although huffing slightly, followed his friend. 

When the two were inside the pipe, the leader was already beginning his meeting call, with Greypaw nervously fidgeting with his paws behind him. It didn’t take long for the rest of the Clan to answer to the call, and they both watched Tallstar expectantly and cast confused and suspicious glances at Greypaw. No one made a move to attack the ThunderClan apprentice, however. Onepaw and Firepaw themselves quickly padded over to sit closer to the back of the crowd, hoping to see some of the Clan’s reactions to the news. Eventually, Tallstar began speaking.

"Just before me, Firepaw, and Onepaw were about to go on a hunting patrol together, we found this ThunderClan apprentice close to our camp. I have no idea how he managed to find us, but he has his reasons for wanting to find us. We talked a bit outside, and he has told me some things that I think the rest of the Clan should hear as well." Tallstar took a step backwards as soon as he finished speaking, motioning for Greypaw to take his place on the ledge.

The Clan was silent as the grey tom stepped forward, not looking quite as nervous as he had when Tallstar began speaking. Greypaw began speaking, a bit unsteady at first, but gradually growing more reassured. “I am here on my own account. I heard about WindClan’s disappearance at the gathering. Not long after, my Clan was raided by ShadowClan, and they succeeded in killing both our medicine cat and deputy.” The apprentice paused when a few of the cats began muttering in dismay. “I kind of… just left without a word. I know it seems odd, but I think you guys can return to your territory.” There were some calls from the cats in the clearing, all getting the same meaning of “it isn’t safe” across. “Although I’m sure you all are worried about ShadowClan cats guarding your territory, I am almost completely sure Bluestar would be willing to help. She was  _ not  _ happy with what ThunderClan had done.

“Although it might not be reassuring that you have to get help from an enemy Clan, it’s the best shot you have. As for Brokenstar… he can be dealt with later on, but the most important thing is that you all return to the territory that is rightfully yours.”

Firepaw had to admit, Greypaw really wasn’t a bad speaker. Many of the cats within the Clan were nodding their heads, seemingly considering what Greypaw had said. Of course, there were still some concerns.

“How can we trust ThunderClan? You haven’t even got a complete confirmation on if Bluestar will help us!”

“What if ShadowClan drives us out again? They can easily overpower us.”

“What if ThunderClan is helping ShadowClan just hurt us more? We don’t know if we can trust you!”

When the Clan’s shouts and murmurs quieted, Tallstar signalled for Greypaw to step back before taking the apprentice’s place. “Greypaw is alone. There is nothing he can do to hurt us. If this was an attempt on Bluestar’s part, it was a pretty lousy one. She is smart enough not to get involved with Brokenstar, and that was especially demonstrated during the Gathering. Last time we had no help and weren’t expecting anything, but now we have the Clan with easily the most cats, as well as the knowledge that Brokenstar isn’t afraid to take those kinds of measures. We are much more prepared.” After a brief moment of stunned silence, Tallstar added, "WindClan will begin their journey back to their rightful home tonight."

There were a few outraged cries at the sudden, undiscussed news. Deadfoot looked downright shocked, but after about a minute, when the chaos died down, Tallstar spoke again.

“This is non negotiable. I refuse to let my Clan continue to live in these awful conditions, and we've been doing so long enough. We need to take back our territory, and prove to the ShadowClan cats that we can stand up for ourselves. We can’t let them get too cocky. That is all.” And, without another word, the leader dismissed the Clan with a flick of his tail. 

The WindClan cats seemed to process what the leader had just said, before predictably jumping into enthusiastic conversation. From where Firepaw sat, he could hear very mixed opinions on it, ranging from fully ready to attack ShadowClan, to furious about Tallstar’s declaration.

Firepaw himself was still gathering his senses, while Onepaw beside him seemed a step ahead and was attempting to drag him over to Greypaw. Once the dazed tom managed to realize what Onepaw was doing, he shot him a narrow-eyed look before following his friend over to Greypaw, who was sitting beneath the ledge.

The grey tom seemed nervous, but when he spotted the two approaching apprentices, his head shot up. “Hey, Firepaw and… Onepaw?”

Onepaw nodded, before chuckling slightly. “Well, I guess your efforts weren’t in vain, huh?”

Greypaw smiled weakly, before glancing at Tallstar. “Tonight, huh? That’s a bit… sudden.”

Onepaw nodded in agreement, before nudging Firepaw. “Hey, do you have any thoughts or are you just going to sit there with glass for eyes?”

Firepaw shot him a tired look, weakly swatting the tom, but then looked over at Greypaw. “I’m still confused as to why you bothered to do this.”

Greypaw’s smile became a bit more reassured. “Well, to maintain my dignity as a brave and courageous ThunderClan apprentice, why else?” 

Firepaw clicked his tongue, an amused look in his eyes. “Yeah, okay.” 

Greypaw nodded, before glancing at the entrance. “It’s still early, huh? I reckon it’ll be a bit before we have to head off...”

“And what are you getting to?” Onepaw mewed.

“I’m exhausted, what else? You think I’ll have time to sleep?”

“Well, sure, if you like wet ledges…”

 

\---

 

The rest of the day was spent either resting or preparing for the long journey back to WindClan's territory, though it was mostly the latter. But the wayward sun just kept falling and falling, until the cats all waited at the entrance while the last of them were eating the strengthening herbs Barkface was giving out.

The night was quiet, the telltale chirp of crickets ringing, as well as the quiet crumple of leaves beneath nervous, pacing cats, but otherwise there wasn’t many sounds. The cats seemed fairly solemn, most mentally preparing themselves for the long journey ahead.

When the cats did leave, it remained quiet- the small Clan (along with one ThunderClan apprentice) headed through the wasteland that had become their temporary territory, a moving throng of determined cats.

Firepaw himself found the silence somewhat irritating- shouldn’t the cats be discussing  _ how  _ exactly they would take back the territory, besides just running into attack? They needed some sort of plan, and surely if one were made, he would have known about it.

“You seem sour, Firepaw.” Onepaw suddenly interrupted the quiet of the moving cats, several warriors glancing over as he did so. “What’s on your mind?”

“I just don’t get why it’s so quiet,” Firepaw muttered sullenly, “Shouldn’t we be talking about what to do when we get there?”

Onepaw blinked, a look of newfound doubt crossing his face. “Well, I’m sure Tallstar has something in mind. I know you trust him, and I do too.”

Firepaw did trust his mentor, a lot. He hadn’t thought much about it, but it had built over the time since he had joined the Clan. But he still wouldn’t let his trust blind his own personal judgement. “Then why didn’t he tell anyone of this plan?”

Onepaw sighed, before shaking his head. “I don’t know, buddy. Maybe I’m putting too much faith into him, but I’ve been looking forward to returning to our territory for awhile. It’s been over a moon. I want to get back to our home. Don’t you?”

Firepaw’s gaze flickered away from meeting Onepaw’s eyes. “Well, of course, but not at the cost of us being massacred.”

“We have ThunderClan on our side,” Onepaw argued.

“Their leader doesn’t even know about this supposed ‘agreement,’” Firepaw interjected, "Plus, for all we know, RiverClan could also be siding with ShadowClan."

Onepaw seemed more unsure, and frowned. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re right. We might get killed.”

A feeling of guilt made Firepaw lower his head slightly. He didn’t mean to dampen Onepaw’s enthusiastic ideas and mood; after all, the Clan would need optimism during this, but he couldn’t help but feel nervous over the whole affair.

The following silence to the conversation-argument was suddenly interrupted by Greypaw, who seemed to be teeming with both anxiety and determination. 

“Firepaw, gosh, I’ve been meaning to catch you in order to talk for awhile now, but you always seem busy,” the grey tom meowed, moving to walk next to the tabby.

“Busy with what? Walking in silence and moping?” Onepaw replied before Firepaw could speak.

Firepaw shot his friend a half-heartedly exasperated look, before returning his attention to Greypaw.

“What did you want to talk about?”

“Well, a couple things…” Greypaw muttered, “Firstly, gosh, this still feels so sudden. I mean, we’ve been walking for  _ so long _ , but I did  _ not  _ expect Tallstar to be so lenient. I mean, yeah, it was for the good of his Clan, yadayadayada, but he didn’t even consider Clan opinion. And  _ man _ , said Clan opinion doesn’t seem too high from the mutters I’ve been hearing. Also, off topic, but those herbs we ate earlier are so weird. Is it a WindClan cat thing to like weird herbs? My stomach feels funny.”

Firepaw blinked, thinking over what his friend had blurted, before selectively choosing to reply to the second part. “It’s probably because they’re from some weird gross swamp.”

Onepaw seemed to notice how he completely ignored the first part, and rolled his eyes. Firepaw decided to ignore that as well.

“I suppose that’d make sense,” Onepaw contemplated, “Although, herbs are just nasty in general. Can you  _ believe _ that the medicine cats put up with being around them constantly?”

And Firepaw found himself wondering why his friend was chatting about how herbs tasted while the cats of a banished Clan were heading a perilous journey to what could be their doom.

 

\---

 

After what felt like moons of walking, the exiled Clan found themselves in front of a Thunderpath. It seemed a simple task to cross to Firepaw, who had done it for the first 6 moons of his life, but the others seemed nervous, most especially the queens and one elder.

Deadfoot was arranging them so that at least two cats would accompany the more frail cats as they crossed, and the rest were in groups of two. Firepaw found himself grouped with Mudclaw. The two waited as the other teams ran across.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, so Firepaw didn’t feel reason to worry about it. As Mudclaw and Firepaw were getting closer and closer to it being their turn, out of the corner of his eye, Firepaw saw Morningflower carrying her young kit. Despite it having been a bit since she had given birth to her litter, she was still weak, especially considering the fact that she wasn’t in the best place when Gorsekit had been born, and she had to work even while her kit was still young.

Thinking over this, Firepaw quickly muttered to Mudclaw that he’d be right back, before approaching the queen. 

“Hey, er, Morningflower?” Firepaw asked as he reached the molly.

She looked up, gesturing to Gorsekit in her mouth to show she couldn’t speak, before gesturing for Firepaw to continue.

“I can take Gorsekit- just for this quick crossing. I’ve done it a million times, since I used to live at Twolegplace. I’ll keep him safe while crossing. It’ll already be difficult enough for you to run across.”

Of course, Morningflower, as expected, seemed reluctant, but after a few more moments of Firepaw looking at her expectantly, she placed her only son on the ground before Firepaw. “Make sure he doesn’t get hurt. Please.”

“Of course, Morningflower. He’ll be better than okay once we get across,” Firepaw reassured, before picking up the small kit in his jaws and returning to Mudclaw’s side.

They were now not far from the front of the line. Mudclaw shot Firepaw a silent look, before looking to the small shape in his jaws, before sighing and not questioning it. 

Finally, the two reached the front, and awaited Deadfoot’s signal. When the large tom flicked his tail and nodded his head, seeing as there wasn’t a monster coming, Mudclaw and Firepaw sprinted across the dark grey surface. Firepaw hung on to Gorsekit as hard as he could, though trying his best not to accidentally draw blood or harm the kit at the same time. Within moments, the two toms reached the other side, reuniting with the rest of their Clanmates.

Once Firepaw considered himself safe on the opposite side, he set down Gorsekit, leaning down to check if the kitten was okay. He didn’t seem harmed, despite his high-pitched howl-like whine. The tabby apprentice looked back up to watch his Clanmates running over the Thunderpath, quietly waiting for Morningflower to cross so he could return her kit.

It didn’t take long for the rest of the Clan to cross- it was mostly smooth sailing, luckily, so besides the couple of quick worrying instances where a monster was visible from the distance, it was a relatively non stressful endeavor. 

When Morningflower finally crossed, she quickly rushed over to Gorsekit, sitting down so she could put her tail around her kit. “Thank you,” she said gratefully.

Firepaw smiled, dipping his head, and muttered a quick “no problem.” 

Once everyone considered themselves safe and out of the way of any monsters, they really got to look out at what was before them- the WindClan cats, big and small, breathed in relief. The moor reached out before them, and most felt they could run on forever into their old territory.

But Tallstar cut them out of these thoughts. “We will be setting up camp here, so we can rest and restore our energy for what will come tomorrow. Please try to get as much sleep as possible.”

Firepaw felt somewhat dismayed, but understood, and watched as the cats dispersed to find comfortable spaces to sleep for the night. The nearby roar of the Thunderpath would probably be annoying during the night.

"What about  _ him _ ?" One of the WindClan cats gestured to Greypaw, who was still grouped with several cats of the Clan, unsure of what to do.

Before Tallstar could open his mouth to respond, Greypaw chimed in with an answer himself. "I can stay with WindClan for the rest of the night. It's no big deal."

Tallstar nodded. “There’s your answer,” he replied.

The cat who had asked the question grunted and returned to whatever conversation they had been busy with prior.

Firepaw glanced over to look at Greypaw, who was back to chatting with some of the WindClan cats, and found himself wondering how long they’d have stayed at that dreadful camp if the tom hadn’t come.

He didn’t like the thought of it, and he certainly didn’t like the fact that he could get stuck in some sort of sinkhole again or the camp might flood or something that would hurt his Clan further.

But, thankfully, them being stuck there wasn’t the case. Firepaw just hoped it would stay that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!
> 
> remember commenting is always welcomed and encouraged.


	20. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome back!! no trigger warnings for this chap!!  
> yall better get ready for some action >:)

#  CHAPTER NINETEEN

 

Firepaw was woken up early the next day-  _ much  _ earlier than he would have liked, in fact. He instinctively leapt to his paws, his gaze desperately scanning the dark horizon for any signs of potential ShadowClan invaders- why else would he have been woken up so early, during what seemed to be the middle of the night? However, the only things he could see were the stars in the night sky and the sleeping forms of his Clanmates, and he couldn't see or smell any ShadowClan cats.

In the midst of Firepaw's thoughts, he heard a soft yet familiar voice call his name. He spun around, coming face to face with both Greypaw and Onepaw; the former looking like his usual cheery self, and the latter looking not too pleased at being awake at such an early time.

Firepaw snapped out of his initial shock before he quietly blurted out, trying his best not to wake his Clanmates, "What are you two doing up? And were you guys the ones to wake me up?"

"Well,  _ he _ was," Onepaw said, gesturing to Greypaw, "and he wanted to get you up before telling me anything, apparently."

"Hey, it'll be much easier to tell this to two cats at once," the ThunderClan apprentice chimed in.

"So, what  _ do _ you need us for?" Firepaw asked, sitting down in front of his two friends.

"I have a plan to defeat ShadowClan."

Firepaw choked.  _ Way to be blunt, Greypaw. _ Onepaw stared at the grey tom with an expression that seemed to be a combination of both surprise and disbelief. For a moment, hardly any sounds were made, before Onepaw spoke up and broke the silence. "How, exactly? And... why didn't you just wait until the morning and then tell the rest of the Clan?"

Greypaw glanced around at the sleeping forms of the rest of the WindClan cats, before beginning to pad a few paces away from the throng of bodies, beckoning the other two apprentices. “Come on. We don’t want to wake anyone up.”

Firepaw felt a swell of his confusion building. Now Greypaw was acting like this was some sort of top secret mission. Maybe it was some sort of order from Tallstar? Or maybe he was going to bring them to ThunderClan to figure out if Bluestar would help. He sure hoped it was something like the latter.

Once the trio of apprentices were out of earshot of the unconscious cats, Onepaw spoke up again. “So, what’s this genius plan of yours?” The brown tom appeared to still be irritable.

Greypaw, however, didn’t seem to be fazed by Onepaw’s attitude. “There are some cats willing to help us in defeating ShadowClan. Of course, I don’t expect or want to wipe out the whole Clan, but maybe we could get rid of Brokenstar somehow.”

Onepaw blinked, his brows furrowing. “Wait, ‘some cats’? Does that mean a couple of apprentices from ThunderClan? Please don’t say you think we can take down the most terrifying cat in ShadowClan with some apprentices.”

Firepaw had to admit that he agreed- there was no way they could even make a dent in ShadowClan with a small group of apprentices. They could all be killed.

Greypaw snorted. “Oh come on guys, do you really have  _ that  _ little faith in me? I’m optimistic, but I’m not thick in the head. I did speak to a ThunderClan apprentice before I left, but she agreed to tell Bluestar about our plan to attack soon. I included all the dates and times. She’s actually one of the two cats I told about me rescuing WindClan.”

This time Firepaw spoke up. “And how in StarClan do you know that Bluestar even  _ agreed _ ?”

“Let’s just say I haven’t slept. I met up with her and a couple other cats…” Greypaw responded sheepishly.

Firepaw glanced at Onepaw, feeling unsure about the whole plan. They were relying completely on this friend that Greypaw had- what if she got the details mixed up? What if Bluestar had changed her mind? But then again, Firepaw did feel eager to get revenge on ShadowClan. But his doubt might outweigh this feeling.

"So... I'm assuming you want us to help you with this as well?" Firepaw asked.

“Precisely. Now you’re getting it!” Greypaw seemed to brighten up a little, looking back and forth between Onepaw and Firepaw with an enthusiastic expression.

Naturally, the two WindClan apprentices were still doubtful. “Are we positive that this apprentice got the details through clearly?” Firepaw meowed, brows furrowed.

“Yes, of course. I went over the details again when we met up earlier to be positive she got the right ones through. Bluestar, and presumably some others, will be aiding us in an attack against ShadowClan’s camp. We need all the help possible. And even if you refuse to go, I’ll go alone.”

Firepaw nodded. He should’ve expected that Greypaw wouldn’t be negotiated into not going. “Alright… but if we don’t meet up with this help you’re talking about, then we’re leaving. Even you. I’ll drag you by the scruff if I have to.”

Greypaw seemed to perk up at Firepaw’s words, but then turned his attention to Onepaw, who had been quiet for a bit.

The brown tom in question turned to look at Firepaw. “You’re going, huh?” He hummed, “Well, I know I’ll regret it later if I refuse. I’ll go.” Onepaw smiled slightly at the two.

Greypaw’s eyes shined with excitement. “Wow. I didn’t actually expect to get  _ both  _ of you along. We should get going, then.”

The two WindClan apprentices nodded, and the three began to head further and further from the shelter that the nervous WindClan warriors had set up. 

As the trio headed further and further through the large territory that was WindClan’s, Firepaw began to realize that they were heading towards Fourtrees. He supposed it made sense- maybe it was so they could meet up with some of Greypaw’s ‘friends’ that he mentioned.

As they continued, Firepaw sensed a faint trace of fear from Onepaw, the smell he had gotten so used to in the last two moons in his Clan. It was to be expected- they were going to run into a battle in the very near future where the other side was willing to slaughter them if given the chance. 

However, Firepaw didn’t have too much time to dwell on this fact, as they soon reached Fourtrees as he had expected. It was how he had remembered- four tall, towering trees that nearly resembled mountains, and a large rock that the leaders would normally be seated on during a full moon. But now the place was vacant of any cats other than the three apprentices- or what seemed to be only them.

"You're finally here!" A new voice rang out throughout the clearing, one that Firepaw hadn't heard before, and as he tasted the air for scents, he deduced that this fourth cat was from RiverClan.  _ Is this one of Greypaw's friends that he brought along? _

Greypaw purred cheerfully. “Here I am, yes! And I brought company!” The grey tom headed towards the RiverClan molly, beckoning for the two WindClan apprentices to follow him.

“Er- hello. I wasn’t aware that Greypaw had friends in RiverClan. I’m Firepaw.” The orange tabby introduced himself, nodding to the molly.

“And I’m Onepaw. You are…?” Onepaw tilted his head.

“Her name’s Silverpaw!” Greypaw chirped before Silverpaw could get a chance to speak, signalling towards the molly in question as he spoke.

“Yes, well, ‘friend’ singular. We met about a moon ago. Have been chatting since. I assume that you can keep a secret?” Silverpaw inquired, a glint of threat in her eyes, as if saying, ‘I dare you to say you’ll tell someone.’

Onepaw seemed oblivious to this. “Well, of course we can. Tallstar has no clue we’re doing this!” Onepaw paused. “Oh. That probably isn’t good. He’ll be furious.”

“ _ Tallstar  _ will be furious? Oh, you have no  _ idea  _ how angry my father will be.” Silverpaw chuckled, the threat gone from her expression.

“Angry responses aside, we should probably get some sleep now- we’re gonna be attacking with some ThunderClan cats in the morning.” Greypaw explained. Firepaw felt somewhat thankful- he had expected they’d be attacking at night. He supposed it was understandable though, as they'd be able to see much better with the daylight.

“Oh, goodie. You’re still not forgiven for waking me up so rudely,” Onepaw joked, before nodding. “I’ll go find a place to rest.”

Firepaw nodded, turning so he could follow Onepaw. As he did so, he glanced at his friend.

“Do you think this’ll work?” Firepaw muttered under his breath.

Onepaw didn’t turn when he responded. “I sure hope so.”

 

\---

 

All the apprentices woke up the following morning in various ways- once again, Firepaw was nudged awake, although this time it wasn’t from Greypaw, and rather the silver molly he had met last night- yes, her name had been Silverpaw, he remembered.

As Firepaw got up, all the memories of last night rushed to him. Now the sky, although not completely blue, was much brighter. In the new light, Firepaw could clearly see Silverpaw.

The RiverClan molly was a gorgeous silver tabby, with clear blue eyes. Her fur was sleek, and she had a lean, thin frame, and a feeling of elegance to her movement.

Other than Silverpaw, Greypaw was also awake. The last sleeping one seemed to be Onepaw, who Silverpaw seemed to be going to wake up as well. Firepaw’s suspicions were confirmed when Silverpaw padded over to the sleeping WindClan apprentice, and nudged him. In response, the brown tom swatted at her, groaning.

Or, at the very least, that was until he seemed to realize what was going on. Onepaw jumped up in alarm, before facing Firepaw.

“Now I remember what we're doing. Why did we agree to this again?” He sniffed.

“I’m afraid it’s a bit too late to ask that. We’re heading into ShadowClan territory. Now,” Silverpaw meowed, flicking her tail towards the direction of ShadowClan’s territory.

Onepaw groaned, and shot a faux-exasperated look to Firepaw, and in turn the orange tabby just rolled his eyes. 

Greypaw padded over, ears pricked and eyes shining. He seemed excited, but there was an undertone of nervousness to it all. “Well, let’s get going, guys.”

The apprentices nodded, before beginning to head towards the towering pines that would lead into ShadowClan’s territory. 

As they padded along, Onepaw spoke up. “So, I assume that ThunderClan’s patrol will be further in…?”

Greypaw nodded, not stopping or turning. “Sounds right. As long as everything goes well, we should be able to succeed.”

Onepaw nodded, and the apprentices fell into silence again.

The light soon became duller as the tall pines started to surround them, the sharp needle-like leaves becoming the constant feeling underpaw. The thick scent of ShadowClan enveloped them.

Personally, Firepaw (and seemingly the others judging from their expressions) found the scent somewhat vile. But perhaps it was nature that he was so used to WindClan’s smell.

Firepaw found himself breaking the silence as a thought occurred to him. “Hey, Silverpaw. Why are you even helping? Has Brokenstar even done anything to harm RiverClan?”

A downcast expression fell upon the molly’s face, and she smiled slightly. “My father may be willing to help Brokenstar, but I’m not cruel enough to leave a Clan that suffered because of these cats in a constant state of fear and danger.”

As Firepaw went over what Silverpaw said, he glanced at her. “Your father is Crookedstar?” 

She chuckled slightly. “Yep.”

Firepaw nodded, and the group fell back into silence.

As the group kept walking, Firepaw felt something cold hit him. Upon observing his surroundings more, he realized that it was starting to rain, and that it was picking up pretty quickly.

_ Oh, StarClan, why did today have to be the day we fight ShadowClan? How are we going to be able to fight in such heavy rain? _

Despite the weather, the group of four apprentices remained silent as they carried on with their journey, although Firepaw heard a few annoyed and quiet mutters from his companions. No one had interrupted them or stopped them yet, so Firepaw took this as a good sign. It was only when Onepaw let out an alarmed hiss that the orange tabby felt a well of panic in his stomach.

Firepaw followed Onepaw’s gaze, and so did the others, and they all saw someone standing there- a large, shaggy-furred black molly from the looks of her. Firepaw stumbled back, glancing at the others with a worried expression.

Silverpaw seemed to be in a defensive position, eyes slitted. Onepaw’s fur was on edge, and he was looking at Greypaw, who seemed to be surprisingly unsurprised.

“Guys, calm down. It’s just Yellowfang. I didn’t know she was going to help in the patrol… but… here she is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!


	21. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT!!!! NOTE!!!! PLEASE READ!!!!  
> This chapter will be much shorter than the others. This is not on an account of us not knowing what to write- this is purely a transition chapter to when we get to the next part. Thank you!!

#  CHAPTER TWENTY

 

Yellowfang approached the four apprentices, seeming on edge as well, but she nodded to Greypaw after a brief moment. “I won’t be hurting any of you,” she said, her voice low and gruff.

Silverpaw and Onepaw seemed to calm down, and Firepaw breathed a sigh of relief.  _ At least she's not an enemy. I mean, I hope so. _ “I’m Firepaw, an apprentice from WindClan. Greypaw brought me here, along with these two.” He gestured to Onepaw and Silverpaw, who  took their turns introducing themselves as well.

“I believe I mentioned her before when visiting WindClan, right Firepaw?" Greypaw chimed in. "She’s ThunderClan's new medicine cat, and was forced out of ShadowClan.”

Firepaw thought back to the conversation that they had had when he had first found Greypaw outside of WindClan's temporary camp. “Yeah, I do think you mentioned her when you came to help WindClan.” He turned to speak to Yellowfang, curiosity rising inside of him. “Why are you here?”

Yellowfang scanned the apprentices with what could be called a lack of zeal, “I was going to be asking you that- two of you reek of WindClan and the last smells of fish. I was going to help with the raid on ShadowClan- I assume that Greypaw grabbed you two WindClan cats when leaving, but…” The older molly glanced at Silverpaw with a bit of suspicion.

Silverpaw smiled, speaking without a hint of hesitation. “We met up by coincidence, and when I asked Greypaw where he was going, I decided that it sounded like a good cause. Crookedstar’s decision to remain what seems to be neutral has made me furious.”

Yellowfang nodded in understanding, “Very well. I suppose we need all the help we can get. Speaking of which…”

Greypaw blinked. “Huh?”

Yellowfang hummed thoughtfully, before seeming to decide on something. “I’ve gathered a group of cats within ShadowClan who will help in the raid. They are some cats who despised Brokenstar’s rule, and I managed to convince them to helping to liberate the Clan from their leader.”

Greypaw frowned. “Are you sure they’ll help?”

The grey molly scowled. “Trust my judgement, apprentice. I’ve known them all for the majority of my life.”

Onepaw, who had been quiet, spoke up. “I guess it’ll only help us… I assume they’ll help restore ShadowClan afterwards. I’m guessing even after Brokenstar is gone there will be some things to fix.”

“You’re right about that,” Yellowfang huffed. “But enough of this chitchat. I suppose I can join you- we will probably meet some ThunderClan warriors already heading to help on the way.”

The others nodded, and the group continued further into the unfamiliar pine forest, now with Yellowfang tagging along as well. The scent of ShadowClan only grew thicker and thicker as they continued, the pines becoming larger and the leaflitter becoming what was basically the entire forest floor.

As they continued, they were waiting to either meet up with the ThunderClan warriors or run into a ShadowClan patrol. Thankfully for them, it was the former.

The trees had started to become a bother to navigate around, the thick scent of ShadowClan was intoxicating to those in the group that were foreign, and the worry that they’d suddenly run into a furious group of blood-thirsty ShadowClan cats only grew the deeper they ventured into the unknown territory.

It was quite a relief when the scent of ThunderClan hit their noses.

A semi-large group of cats, seven at most, were walking slowly and facing away, all reeking of the oaks in their territory. 

One of them whirled around as the apprentices and medicine cat approached, making a quiet yelping noise. The cat, a pale tabby tom, seemed to calm slightly as he saw Greypaw and Yellowfang.

The other cats in the group turned to face the cats behind them as well, and the large molly who seemed to be in the front of the group, who Firepaw quickly recognized to be Bluestar, nodded to Yellowfang.

The blue-grey molly studied the others carefully, shooting a thoughtful look at Firepaw, and then to the other three apprentices, before sighing. “And I suppose Greypaw brought you apprentices here?”

Onepaw nodded unsurely, and Firepaw soon followed suit. Silverpaw remained for the most part unmoving. Bluestar just shook her head and turned away.

“I am not to be held accountable for the three of you that are not in my Clan. I hope you are all aware of the danger you will soon head into, as I am sure Greypaw explained the whole situation.”

“Yes, of course. We have all gone over this and are completely aware,” Silverpaw answered for the three of them.

Bluestar nodded without a word, and returned to stand at the front of her own patrol. 

“Everyone get ready. It won't be long before we attack.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Get excited!  
> Commenting is always welcome and encouraged.


	22. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! We finally have this out :D  
> Trigger warnings  
> (these might include some spoilers for the chap so dont read if you dont wanna get spoiled for what happens!!!)  
> Graphic death  
> Graphic descriptions of blood and/or violence  
> Panic attacks/hinted at panic attacks

#  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

 

As the cats that were taking part in the ShadowClan raid all stood together, waiting for everyone to be ready, Bluestar and a couple other ThunderClan warriors began talking in low, hushed voices. It didn’t take long for Yellowfang to speak up, though. Without a warning, she seemed to loudly interrupt the ThunderClan warriors’ conversation.

“Mousefur, Bluestar, Whitestorm, I have some other cats that can help in this raid. I knew them from when I was in ShadowClan, and they oppose Brokenstar's rule just as much as this entire group does.”

Bluestar glanced at Yellowfang, eyes curious and gleaming. “ShadowClan cats, huh? I’m assuming they're willing to make some sort of rebellion? We'll definitely need all the help we can get,” she added.

Yellowfang nodded. “You’ve got it. I’m going to take a quick trip closer to camp to get them, so they can hear whatever plan you come up with and help us out.”

Bluestar nodded, flicking her tail as to tell Yellowfang to go get the cats. The medicine cat quickly whirled around and vanished into the trees. Bluestar returned to her conversation with the warriors.

Alas, Bluestar turned around to explain the plan she had apparently come up with. By then, Yellowfang had returned with a small group of queens, elders, and senior warriors who wanted to take down Brokenstar. Firepaw took note of how weak some of the cats in the ShadowClan group looked, and he desperately hoped that they would be strong enough to aid in the upcoming battle. Opposing Brokenstar was one thing, but having the ability to fight was another altogether.

_ We're going to win this,  _ Firepaw reassured himself.  _ These cats  _ know _ what Brokenstar's rule was like firsthand. _

During the wait for Bluestar, cats had started to talk in small groups amongst themselves about the coming battle, and a few cats kept watch in case any ShadowClan cats were to come close so they could warn the others. Thankfully, this didn’t happen.

When Bluestar started explaining the plan, everyone turned around from their small groups. Firepaw himself had been talking with Greypaw, Onepaw, Silverpaw, and a couple of seemingly spiteful and older apprentices from ThunderClan named Sandpaw and Dustpaw. He was somewhat excited to hear the plan that Bluestar and her more trusted warriors had devised.

“I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for me to tell you all about what me, Whitestorm, ad Mousefur have been talking about. The idea me and the others have come up with in order to win the battle is going in groups- we will send some of the weaker cats in first, such as the apprentices, in order to throw them off guard. Eventually we will send in the more experienced warriors,” Bluestar explained, her voice loud and commanding to the group of raiders.

Firepaw blinked. It seemed such a simple idea- not necessarily bad, though. He just hoped it would work. Some questions and worries buzzed in his brain after Bluestar unraveled the plan, such as,  _ What if me and the other apprentices get badly injured by going in first? What if they’ve already noticed we’re here and are going to ambush  _ us _? What if they suspect what’s going on even if the apprentices go in first? _

Despite attempting to push them away, the thoughts lingered persistently. In the end, all he could do was hope this would work. And if it didn’t… well, he was sure that Bluestar and the other seniors would figure something out.  _ They probably have a failsafe plan. _

It didn’t take long for Firepaw and the others to begin to get sorted into groups- the apprentice groups were split up, and some elders and queens were put in them. Two frontline groups were quickly formed, the first one that would go in included Dustpaw, Greypaw, and an elder queen from ShadowClan, Dawncloud. The second one consisted of Firepaw, Silverpaw, Sandpaw, and a cat that had been introduced as Ashfur from ShadowClan as well. There were a few more ShadowClan cats that were littered in some of the other patrols, too.

Firepaw watched as the other patrols got into place, each hiding in bushes surrounding the camp. The cats were blind to what was actually happening in the camp, although Firepaw felt it was impossible for there not to be some ShadowClan cats picking up the scents of the nearby ThunderClan cats (as well WindClan and RiverClan). He knew that the patrols would have to run in fairly soon, as not to let too many ShadowClan cats realize what was happening. Perhaps this is why Firepaw saw Bluestar not far away, gesturing for the first patrol to rush in.

As Firepaw strained to hear what happened next, he flinched as there were screeches and yells coming from inside the nearby camp.  _ It really  _ is  _ bad in there.  _

He flinched as the sharp calls rang in his ears, and glanced at the other cats that were also in his patrol. Onepaw seemed to be frowning as well, crouching and hair pricked up. The elder, Ashfur, was set with a grim expression, his eyes closed. Silverpaw and Sandpaw seemed have similar expressions, both seeming set in unchanging determination.

Onepaw suddenly nudged Firepaw. “Hummm…?” Firepaw murmured, nervousness tinging his tone.

“Come on, we should stay optimistic,” Onepaw whispered reassuringly, one side of his mouth quirked in a small smile. "We  _ will _ beat ShadowClan this time. We've got the advantage this time."

Firepaw sighed, and just nodded, giving his friend an affectionate brush of his tail. “You’re right. We’re going to be okay.”

Onepaw seemed ready to respond, but before the brown tom could respond, Bluestar padded over, eyes narrowed and expression unreadable. She nodded to the group, stance tall, and shoulders tensed.

“Are you all ready?” Bluestar asked, voice quiet but still firm.

The cats in the patrol each nodded, and in turn Bluestar flicked her tail to signal for them to go. 

Firepaw saw the cats around him begin to rush into the camp. He shook himself, before following after the other cats. 

As he burst into the ShadowClan camp, there was immediately action- the screams he had heard from the bushes were now clear and much, much louder. There were pairs of cats writhing and clawing at each other, and blood and fur was spattered on the ground.

Firepaw yelped as a warrior suddenly knocked into him, shoving him to the ground. He felt a sharp pain ripping through his side, and desperately kicked at the source of pain. 

His hind paws collided with the course fur belonging to the ShadowClan warrior. As Firepaw craned his head to see his attacker, he saw that the molly’s eyes were glistening with malice, a sneer on her face. 

Firepaw, attempting to centre his thoughts so he could respond to the attack, used his front paws to hook his claws into the dirt so he could pull himself away. 

The molly growled and kicked the orange apprentice’s belly. Firepaw flinched, coughing slightly and kicking at the molly once more. This time, it was semi-successful, and forced her to back off slightly. It proved to be just enough for Firepaw to slip out and rise to his paws.

Naturally, Firepaw found himself being smaller than the warrior opposing him. He backed away, shoulders raised and eyes tingling with unsureness. The molly before him rose to her full height, pushing off of her front paws slightly, before crashing down onto Firepaw, ripping sharp, unforgiving claws through the delicate skin going from his cheek to his shoulder. 

Firepaw retaliated by swiping at her chest, ending up in ripping some of the thick fur out, and just a small trace of blood coming from the wound.  _ A perk of having long fur, I suppose- _

The molly seemed about to charge him again, when suddenly the ShadowClan warrior was knocked out of the way by Silverpaw, who seemed relatively unscathed so far. As Firepaw rushed over to help his new friend, the silver molly growled.

“Go over and help Greypaw and that elder with Brokenstar," Silverpaw said. "StarClan knows they need all the help they can get, since Brokenstar finally decided to show up. I’ll deal with this one.”

Firepaw felt a spike of uncertainty, but nodded nonetheless. “Good luck, Silverpaw,” was all he said before looking around to see where Brokenstar and his attackers were.

As Silverpaw had said, Greypaw, as well as the elder that Firepaw recognized as Nightpelt. He rushed over to help the two, although before Firepaw could even reach the three battling cats, the ShadowClan leader burst away from Nightpelt and Greypaw.

Firepaw felt a spark of alarm as the leader created a fairly bad gash in Greypaw’s lower throat, but the alarm was quickly replaced by something even more severe as Brokenstar barrelled through the camp, eyes narrowed and teeth bared.

The orange tabby felt a feeling of paralyzing fear ripple through him. The last time he had seen this cat, it was at the gathering before his Clan was driven from the moors, and the tom had presumably been present during that attack.

He was definitely much,  _ much _ more terrifying up close.

And on another level, the only times that Firepaw had seen the fierce leader was when he was causing harm to his friends or hurting someone. He knew how dangerous the tom was- he could probably kill Firepaw without a second thought or feeling of remorse- he could do that to  _ anyone _ there.

Perhaps that was what made it even more horrifying when Brokenstar happened to run into Silverpaw, who was still battling the molly that Firepaw had been moments before.

The large, bulky brown tom ripped his claws through the much smaller RiverClan apprentice’s spine fur, and the silver tabby reared up, screeching in pain and shock from the blow. 

Brokenstar barreled the apprentice to the ground, long claws pushing directly at the writhing molly’s throat, piercing the skin. Blood began to slowly bubble out of the messy cuts in her skin, 

Firepaw had seen dead bodies- even back when he was at Twolegplace, he’d occasionally have to pay respects to one of his neighbors, and even once he saw the corpse of a cat who had been struck by a car, and by that point had flies buzzing around, the collapsed bones and almost un-catlike shape creating a nearly permanent image in his mind. Even during the battle he’d had when being forced out of the moors, he remembered seeing the slight shape of one of his Clanmates’ dead bodies. This was not even mentioning Eaglekit.

But he hadn’t seen the action of any cat dying happening in real time, and especially not from another cat. And most  _ especially  _ not a cat he had conversed with and gotten to know after a very small period of time.

So when Silverpaw’s ability to writhe and screech growly grew more and more weak, and the trickle of blood coming from Brokenstar’s paws turning to a steady flow, Firepaw felt himself turn sick, his insides doing a small flip as he watched the scene go down. And due to Firepaw considering himself something of an empath, he couldn’t help but imagine that pain being done to him, being pinned down by a cat three times his size, and being rendered helpless while blood poured from his neck.

He couldn't move. He felt trapped in place, being forced to watch this gruesome scene play out in front of him.

Brokenstar suddenly leapt off of the small, weak molly. She wasn’t dead yet, but he simply padded away, apparently considering waiting for her to die to be too much of a hassle.

All Firepaw could render in his vision besides the limp, bloodstained body was a flash of grey. 

Firepaw found himself unable to breathe or think properly, despite the battle still roaring on around him.

The only thing he could properly think was,  _ Am I going to have to get used to this? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! i'm not sorry


	23. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws:  
> graphic descriptions of wounds/bloods/dead body  
> very small tw for a panic attack

#  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

 

As Firepaw stood frozen on the spot in the midst of the raging battle, unsure of what to do, he saw two blurs out of the corner of his eye charge across the camp towards Brokenstar and the corpse that lay beside him. It took him a few more seconds for everything to shift back into focus.

It was gradual- first the other cats surrounding Silverpaw became something other than a distant blur, and then the noise of screeching and spitting erupting from the cats around him began blasting in his ears again. 

When he finally felt able to move again, he ran over to Silverpaw. Brokenstar, seemingly pleased with the murder of the young RiverClan molly, padded off elsewhere, perhaps to help more in the battle knowing what was going on right now. The other cats who had ran over, who FIrepaw now recognized as Onepaw and Greypaw, had mixed reactions.

Onepaw looked fairly sick, a shocked look in his eyes as he stared at the limp corpse of Silverpaw.

Meanwhile, Greypaw seemed to be stricken with panic. His head was down, and he was muttering things to still bleeding corpse. The molly wasn’t dead quite yet, but the rise and fall of her chest grew more and more sporadic and hoarse with each passing second.

Finally, Firepaw found himself able to speak again. Seeing how Greypaw seemed to be deaf to what was going on around him, the orange tom spoke to Onepaw. “One… Onepaw, please- go get Yellowfang. She’s not dead.” His voice was quiet, not much more than a mutter, but Onepaw seemed to hear, and quickly skittered off to presumably look for Yellowfang, wherever she was.

As Firepaw waited, he leaned over to try to comfort Greypaw. “Greypaw, come on, are you-” He cut himself off, frowning in discomfort while his friend continued to ignore him.

However, Firepaw was close enough to hear what Greypaw was muttering now. “Silverpaw, you’re alive, you’re fine. Why else would you be breathing? Brokenstar isn’t  _ that  _ strong. It’s just a little scratch. Just a nick. It’d take a lot more to kill you- we both know that. We do… I think you’ve even mentioned something like that before. You’ll just need a bit of healing up, then you can get right up and continue fighting.”

The words escaping Greypaw’s lips were quiet, and nearly inaudible. They came out rapidfire, and Silverpaw didn’t seem to be able to hear it.

The deflated-looking silver apprentice herself didn’t seem to be in the best shape- along with her ragged breathing, her eyes seemed to be fluttering open and closed every so often. Her claws were hooked into the dirt, although her claws’ grasp seemed to only be growing weaker. 

The wound on her neck wasn’t visible by then; the red, blood-soaked fur covered up the incisions. Besides that, there were some smaller scratches also leaking blood on her belly, most likely from when Brokenstar had first knocked her over. 

Firepaw frowned, realizing he should probably do something to help before Yellowfang got over. He nudged Greypaw over, and leaned down to clean up the wound on her neck- there were bits of dirt and grass in the fur, as well as in the wound.

Firepaw winced as he tasted the blood of the young molly, but continued nonetheless in order to push away the flakes of dirt. Greypaw seemed to have quieted down by then, and from the corner of his vision, Firepaw could see the grey tom seemed more sad than anything, as if he had already accepted that the silver molly was not gonna last much longer. Or, perhaps, “accepted” wasn’t the correct wording- something more like “realized.” 

Firepaw was still leaned down when he heard the gruff, loud voice of Yellowfang. “Get out of my way, Firepaw. I have to see this situation properly.”

Firepaw quickly jumped out of the way, watching as Yellowfang took up the position that he had been in so she could inspect the wound.

Firepaw looked over to Greypaw, who still had that grief-stricken expression on his face. The grey tom in that moment was quiet, and seemed unable to do anything but stare at the ever-weakening body of Silverpaw.

Firepaw glanced over to Onepaw, silently asking if he should help Greypaw. In turn, the brown tom shook his head.

“We just have to leave him for now- Brokenstar is still causing trouble.” Indeed he was, Firepaw realized, as his gaze followed the direction that Onepaw’s tail was pointing to.

Firepaw froze slightly, that feeling of panic returning to him. Onepaw nudged him.

“I know. But we have to help get rid of him.” 

After a few more moments, Firepaw swallowed and nodded. “Lets go.” 

The two left Yellowfang, Greypaw, and Silverpaw behind as they raced over to the large tom, who in that moment was facing off against a ThunderClan warrior. Onepaw attacked first, slamming into the ShadowClan leader from behind. 

Brokenstar hissed and spat, rearing up in an attempt to get the tom off, while the warrior still attacked from the front. Firepaw swallowed, before launching himself into the side of the brawny tom. The ShadowClan leader stumbled to the side from the combined forces of the attacks, giving the attacking cats a chance to injure the large tom further.

There was suddenly a dusty yellow flash in the corner of Firepaw’s gaze as he continued to persistently claw at Brokenstar’s flank, who, fortunately, was preoccupied with getting rid of Onepaw and battling the ThunderClan warrior.

The cat who had just rushed over seemed to be attempting to help as well, going around to attack Brokenstar’s other flank.

The ShadowClan leader by that point was, quite literally, surrounded. He seemed to realize this, and backed off from the ThunderClan warrior. He knocked off Onepaw, aggressively shoving the tom away, before lifting his head up.

“ShadowClan!  _ Retreat _ !” He howled, tone brimming with fury.

The reaction throughout camp was immediate- fights gradually separated, and some of the ShadowClan cats seemed conflicted on whether or not to join the retreating leader.

In the end, only four persistent followers padded over to him, glaring with acute hatred at the others. 

The rest of the Clan stayed in their place, seeming to have decided to go against Brokenstar. Brokenstar’s small group fled out of the camp, and a few ThunderClan warriors raced after them, presumably to assure they left the territory for good.

All the cats in the camp breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Firepaw padded over to Onepaw, who still seemed a bit dazed from when Brokenstar knocked him away. 

Thankfully, the brown tom seemed to be regaining his ability to stand up. Nonetheless, Firepaw wanted to make sure he was okay. “You alright, Onepaw?”

Onepaw nodded, “Yeah, I’m fine.” He glanced over to Greypaw and Silverpaw- by that point Yellowfang had left. “We should go check on that situation.”

Firepaw didn’t respond, just padded over to the two apprentices. Greypaw’s expression was hidden, as his face was buried in Silverpaw’s fur. 

The molly herself was still, mouth slightly open, and eyes half-lidded. There wasn’t a rise in her chest anymore, and despite there being a messy patching up with cobwebs on her wound, blood wetted the web job. 

Greypaw was shaking slightly, and small whimpers were the only sound coming from the grey tom.  Firepaw felt a feeling of protectiveness for his friend, and padded over to sit beside him.

As he sat, he watched the activity going on within the camp. Bluestar seemed to be attempting to rally all the warriors together, before she began calling out.

“Thank you to all of you. I presume one of you will become leader in place of ShadowClan. Brokenstar and his supporters have been driven out. I trust that there are no remaining supporters.”

As she spoke, one of the elders, who Firepaw recognized as Nightpelt, padded over. “Excuse me, Bluestar.”

Bluestar nodded to the black tom. “Yes?”

“I think I can take up the role of leader if the other ShadowClan cats agree.” He proposed.

Bluestar blinked, before speaking up again. “Anyone opposing giving Nightpelt the role of leader?”

When there was no response, Bluestar dipped her head to Nightpelt. “Very well. I trust you will soon go to the Moonstone. I don’t think ThunderClan has any more business here.”

There were a few cheers around camp, and Firepaw could see relieved-looking ShadowClan warriors smiling and laughing.

"Thank you to all of you who helped drive out Brokenstar and his allies," Nightpelt meowed. "However, ShadowClan will need time to rebuild our camp and Clan, which we'll be able to do on our own. You all may leave now, and some ShadowClan cats will escort you all to the borders." He dipped his head before adding, "May StarClan bless all of you."

Bluestar dipped her head once more. “Very well. ThunderClan, we will be leaving now. Everyone follow me- I also presume there will be some escorts.”

Firepaw nudged Greypaw. “Come on, you need to go,” he said softly, squeezing his friend’s tail with his own. “I’ll tell Nightpelt that she needs to be carried over to RiverClan’s territory.”

Greypaw slowly lifted his head. “Y… yeah… tell them to make sure she’s taken back carefully.”

Firepaw smiled gently, and nodded. “Yes, of course.”

Greypaw breathed in deeply and heavily. “I suppose this is farewell till the next Gathering.” The tom rose up fully to stand up. “Stay safe. May StarClan light your path.”

This is all the ThunderClan apprentice said before bounding off towards his Clan, which was now shuffling out of the camp.

Firepaw remembered his promise, and padded over to Nightpelt. “Er, excuse me.”

The black tom turned his head to look at Firepaw. “Yes?”

“There was a RiverClan apprentice who joined the fight,” he said, pointing over to Silverpaw’s corpse with his tail. “Can you please ensure her body is taken back to RiverClan territory safely?”

Nightpelt’s gaze hardened. “So there was a death… and not even one in my Clan.” He sighed. “Very well. I will organize a patrol to carry her back. And… speaking of other Clans…”

Firepaw frowned, averting his gaze. “Yes, I know, I’m from WindClan, and so is my friend Onepaw.”

Nightpelt suddenly looked irritable. “Yes, I suppose it is only common sense… WindClan was probably affected the most. I won’t give you two escorts. I trust you can both leave quickly.”

Firepaw nodded. “Yes. We’ll be out of ShadowClan territory as soon as possible. I wish you the best of luck.”

Nightpelt flicked his tail in dismissal, and Firepaw bowed before the newly appointed leader, before padding over to Onepaw who was saying goodbye to some of the ThunderClan apprentices.

Firepaw suddenly recognized Sandpaw, and realized something. “You… didn’t you help when we were getting rid of Brokenstar?” He remembered a dusty yellow blur suddenly attacking Brokenstar on another side.

The molly lifted a brow, before nodding. “Yes, I did. I saw he was nearly done for, and was able to help.”

Firepaw shot her a small, grateful smile. “Thank you, Sandpaw.” Without waiting for her reaction, he then turned to Onepaw. “Should we get going?”

The brown tom nodded, bidding farewell once more to the ThunderClan cats before padding away with Firepaw in suit.

The two WindClan apprentices left the ShadowClan camp and began to pad through the territory and make their way back to WindClan's. Firepaw winced slightly from the stinging of his wounds as he walked, but he grew more tolerable of it as he and Onepaw continued through the territory. It was a bit easier navigating through the territory this time around, though occasionally having trouble due to the unfamiliar nature of it.

For the most part, neither of the apprentices said a word. Firepaw himself was preoccupied with plenty of thoughts already. Other than the occasional mutter, the two walked on in silence.

Finally, when they exited ShadowClan’s territory into Fourtrees, they paused so they could briefly clean up their wounds.

When they first entered the large area, Firepaw felt a small pang as he remembered the last time he had been here. It had been with Silverpaw and Greypaw as well as Onepaw. His friend seemed to realize this as well, but neither said anything.

The two took a few minutes to rest and clean up their wounds to the best of their ability. Like when they were leaving ShadowClan territory, the two uncharacteristically didn't speak at all- that is, until Onepaw stood up after a few long minutes, looking in the direction of WindClan's territory.

"Ready to go back?"

Firepaw stood up as well, still sore from the battle from earlier, and nodded. "Ready."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again, thank you for reading.  
> commenting is always welcomed and encouraged.


	24. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No tws, but heres this! were almost done!! one more chap left, plus an epilogue i think you all will enjoy ;)

# CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

 

Thankfully, the trip back to WindClan's temporary camp beside the Thunderpath wasn't too long. Though, despite the entire endeavor seeming like smooth sailing up to that point, around halfway through the journey, Firepaw found himself abruptly coming to a halt. Onepaw, seeming to notice how his friend's pawsteps weren't matching his anymore, turned and padded over to the other apprentice, a look of concern on his face.

"Is something wrong?" Onepaw mewed, before suddenly looking as if he deflated slightly and shook his head. "That... was probably a dumb question. There's gotta be a lot on your mind, huh?"

Firepaw sighed. "I'm just remembering how we left so suddenly and without a word in the middle of the night, spent around an entire day away from our own Clan, and now we're going to be returning to them in this state." He winced, looking at the wounds that covered Onepaw's fur as well as remembering his own that he had gained during the battle. "Wouldn't that cause _some_ sort of worry? I just... feel bad, I guess."

"Yeah... I understand how you feel. I actually was starting to feel the same way early on as well. But hey, the sooner we get back to them, the less they'll have to worry about us! We've gotta keep going."

Firepaw nodded.

"Plus, the sooner we get back, the sooner we'll be able to see if Barkface has anything for us," Onepaw added, turning around. "Now, let's go!"

No more conversation was made as the two apprentices continued, which left Firepaw to his own thoughts once more.

 _Barkface._ Now that WindClan was back on it's own rightful territory, the medicine cat could start filling up his supplies again. That also meant that the Clan could be properly healed and taken care of once again, instead of having to rely on miniscule supplies in a place that already lacked a bunch of herbs.

Firepaw still couldn't believe what was happening. The recent events had all happened so quickly together that it was still hard to believe that it was reality, but it was. WindClan had returned to their own territory once again, Brokenstar and his allies had been defeated, and life in WindClan could return to normal...

"Onepaw? Firepaw? Is that you?"

Firepaw's train of thought froze as he heard a familiar voice. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even realized how much time had passed or how close they were to the camp. As he regained focus, the orange tabby looked up and was met with Deadfoot standing in front of the two apprentices.

Firepaw also took note of how the deputy was mostly focused on the apprentices' injuries and current state. _That's understandable, though._

"Yep! It's us," Onepaw greeted.

Deadfoot closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "Practically the entire Clan was worried about you two. We were just about ready to send out a search patrol, too." Opening his eyes again, he added, "Come on. Let's go to the camp."

The deputy led the two apprentices onwards towards the temporary camp in silence. As they caught up with the rest of the WindClan cats, Deadfoot called out to them, "Firepaw and Onepaw are back!"

Before Firepaw could say or do anything, he saw the form of an all too familiar black and white tom race through the crowd of cats. Within a few moments, Tallstar stood beside Deadfoot, looking over the two apprentices quickly yet carefully.

"What happened to you two?" the WindClan leader gasped, before his expression turned uncharacteristically exasperated . "You need to see Barkface this instant. _Then_ we can discuss your punishment, as well as what in StarClan’s name you two rabbit-brains were thinking." Tallstar pointed in the direction of the medicine cat, which was a few rabbit hops away from where the small group were currently standing.

"Yes, Tallstar," mewed Onepaw in an unexcited manner, before he and Firepaw padded over to the medicine cat.

Barkface was sitting underneath a nearby tree, small piles of herbs beside him that he was looking through- the medicine cat must’ve never gotten around to sorting them into separate groups. As the two apprentices approached, the medicine cat looked up, his face a mixture of shock and worry as he saw them.

"You two... what happened?" the medicine cat asked as Firepaw and Onepaw settled themselves underneath a nearby tree. Barkface began digging through his piles of herbs as he added, "You look like you got into a fight with ShadowClan or something."

"Uh, that's because we... kinda did," Firepaw admitted.

Barkface blinked. "Excuse me?"

"We got help from a bunch of other cats- mostly ThunderClan- and we managed to drive out Brokenstar and some of his biggest followers," Onepaw added.

Barkface padded over to the two apprentices, and as he set a few herbs down he shook his head. "You're going to have to tell the full story to Tallstar. I assume he'll be here any moment now."

Firepaw nervously shifted his weight from paw to paw. “It’s kind of the moment we’re both dreading.”

Barkface hummed and nodded, before pushing forward a couple seeds to each apprentice respectively. “Eat those,” he meowed. “They’ll help relieve your pain.”

The two toms leaned down to lick up the seeds that had been provided, before waiting and watching the older medicine cat chew up what seemed to be leaves.

The whole interaction felt incredibly dull to Firepaw- Barkface finished chewing up the leaves, put them on some of the wounds, put on some cobwebs, and then said he was done. Although, the orange tabby still felt somewhat lucky that it was only a 2-step process.

Although, to be fair, what was coming afterwards wasn’t particularly something either apprentice was looking forward to. 

So when Barkface nodded to them, and said, “Alright, you two- go ask if you can talk to Tallstar.” The two young apprentices shot each other a glance of shared dismay.

But alas, the two padded over to the entrance of Tallstar’s make-shift den, now made up of a small ditch in the ground, and called to the leader inside. 

“Er, excuse me, Tallstar? May we speak with you?” Onepaw called softly.

The WindClan leader turned to face the two apprentices, expression unreadable. “Yes, you may.”

The two smaller toms leapt in, and each did their bows before sitting down and waiting for Tallstar to begin speaking.

“So we all know that I’m not happy with what has happened,” Tallstar said neutrally.

“Listen, I’m sorry Tallstar, but-” 

“Please do not interject, Onepaw. Let’s look at this from my point of view. Two of my five apprentices suddenly vanish, as well as the ThunderClan apprentice who has been sticking around and helping us. I have no clue where either are, and neither does anyone else. They seemed to vanish overnight. And my favorite part? High possibility of aggressive ShadowClan patrols around this territory.” Tallstar finally stopped, took a deep breath, and added something else. “Please, I am oh-so curious. What sort of adventure did you two go on? It'd better be a good explanation.”

Firepaw glanced at Onepaw to silently ask if he should explain, but before the exchange could go through, the brown tom blurted. 

“Greypaw started it.”

Tallstar lifted a brow, before closing his eyes and shaking his head. “If that’s all you have to say, then I’m afraid-”

“Wait, wait, no-” Firepaw interjected. “Sorry, sorry. We do have an _actual_ explanation.” He shot a look of scorn at Onepaw.

“Enlighten me.”

Firepaw nodded. “Well, it technically did start with Greypaw. He woke us up in the middle of the night to tell us about this plan he had. Apparently, before he left, he had discussed dates and times for when Bluestar should send a patrol to ShadowClan to help take down Brokenstar, and had gotten in contact with an apprentice from ThunderClan to make sure everything was set in place. He wanted to join the attack, as he knew it was the next day, and managed to convince us to join too. When we got there, there were some ThunderClan cats and a few ShadowClan cats who wanted to rebel. We managed to defeat Brokenstar and his accomplices, and he was driven out. Nightpelt took over leadership, Bluestar and her patrol left, and we returned.”  
Onepaw sighed. “Without the stupid long-winded explanation, we helped Greypaw and the Thunder-gang kick out the bad guys.”

Tallstar was silent throughout the whole explanation, and his expression was completely unreadable as he seemed to process what the two had just said.

It took him a bit to finally speak up. “Very well. You’re going to be stuck in our camp when we return helping elders with ticks for the next half moon, as well as having your training paused for that same duration of time. No discussion.”

Onepaw blinked. “Wait, what?”

Tallstar drew in a sharp breath of air, studying the two. “Just because you did a good thing doesn’t mean you are excused from punishment. What you two did was unbelievably irrational-”

“Hey, wait-”

“You’ve known this ThunderClan apprentice for what, less than a moon? And you trust he’s going to lead you to glory with his group of friends? And Brokenstar will be driven away? Yes, while things did turn out well, do you understand how lucky you are to not have your pelts ripped apart, and much, _much_ worse wounds. You should think of yourselves as lucky, for I could be giving you much worse punishments, however, I know it would be cruel to keep you camped for a moon or longer. However, if this ever happens again…”

Firepaw nodded vigorously, not wanting to ruin the punishment further by objecting. When he saw Onepaw looked on the verge of saying something, he stomped on his tail. The brown tom shot him an exasperated look, before nodding as well.

“That is all. You two are dismissed. I will announce this news to the rest of the Clan soon. Also, tomorrow we will be officially moving back into our old camp once again, so be prepared for that."

Firepaw nodded and padded out along with Onepaw, feeling relieved that the whole ordeal was over. He just wanted everything to be the way it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!  
> commenting is always welcomed and encouraged.


	25. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINAL CHAP!!! NEXT IS EPILOGUE!!! Thank you to all that have read this!!!!   
> We're super excited to get out the epilogue, and then we'll get started on Fire and Ice!

#  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

 

After their talk with Tallstar, Firepaw and Onepaw headed over to rest underneath a nearby tree. The sky had a pale orange colour peeking from the horizon, which made Firepaw put into perspective of how long his day had been. Perhaps it had been the pure adrenaline that had kept him feeling energized all the way back, but now that Firepaw was calmed down, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of fatigue flush over him.

He suddenly considered himself lucky that the battle with ShadowClan was, instead of how he thought, during the day, meaning he could rest, because even with an okay night of sleep, heading out at early dawn with no strength herbs, and then being thrown into a fight against ruthless cats, and then having to trek across two entire territories…

Needless to say, Firepaw was exhausted.

“Today’s been long, huh?” Onepaw commented as the two apprentices settled underneath a tree, despite the quiet that had settled over them.

Firepaw nodded, curling up and laying his head on his tail. “We can finally go back home tomorrow…” He yawned, before adding, “Shame we’re gonna be stuck in camp for a while.”

Onepaw grunted, laying down to get in a more comfortable position as well. “Don’t remind me.”

Firepaw just rolled his eyes, before closing them and drifting off to sleep not long afterwards.

He couldn’t help but half expect to be awoken by Greypaw for some other crazy plan that night.

 

\---

 

Firepaw woke up fairly early the next day, however, rather than someone waking him, it was more of a “someones.”

His ears pricked as the loud bustling of his Clanmates sounded nearby. He lifted up his head to see the commotion, and in turn saw Tallstar standing atop a large rock that could serve for the normal boulder, and several cats padding over.

_Guess I slept through some sort of gathering call…_ he thought, glancing over to see that the space next to him where Onepaw had been sleeping was now empty. _And he didn’t even wake me up. Hope I didn’t miss anything…_ _  
_ Firepaw rose to his paws, stretched out his spine, and went to join his Clanmates near the rock.

Tallstar wasted no time to begin speaking. “Cats of WindClan; as you know, we have been on the edge of our territory for a couple days now. However, Greypaw, Onepaw and Firepaw, as I’m sure you’ve heard, suddenly vanished the first night. They had joined a ThunderClan patrol that was driving Brokenstar out of his Clan, and giving ShadowClan a new leader. Luckily, they succeeded with minor enough injuries. Essentially, we can now return to our home without any worry. Brokenstar is gone.”

There was a shocked silence around the camp, before there was an eruption of cheers. It was slightly alarming, almost: for the past moon or more, whenever with his Clan, there was a constant stench of fear. Even when they had been returning, the dreadful feeling persisted. But now that everyone knew that they could return, it was basically gone.

Firepaw couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride.

“I don’t want to waste any time, so we will be heading back to our camp now. I assume you all got your rest, and are all eager to leave now.” As the Clan muttered in agreement, Tallstar nodded. "Very well. Our journey back to our proper camp begins now." He then hopped off the rock and, after a moment of conversing with Deadfoot, began to lead the Clan through their territory and away from the shelter where the Clan had been residing.

_ Our territory. _

_ We're  _ back.

As WindClan made their way through their newly reclaimed territory, Firepaw had to suppress the urge to run through the open fields once again, just as he had done moons ago. It was both strange and relieving, coming back to a place that had been practically abandoned for a while.

Sure, he had been there fairly recently with Onepaw, but it was impossible to really enjoy it when he was exhausted and everything was dark. But now the sky was bright, and Firepaw was full of energy, and his Clanmates, enthusiastic and optimistic, surrounded him.

It was as wonderful as it always seemed to be, and a great contrast to the dreary environment the Clan had to spend time in; the grasses stretched on forever, and sweet-smelling heathers brushed against his belly furs.

Wind gently brushed through his fur, giving him a chill that wasn’t unwelcoming. It just made him feel nostalgic, memories of how he felt when he first arrived to what was now his home. His Clan’s home.

The early morning sky was calm, the only movement being the slow sway of clouds drifting through the sterile light blue sea. The sun glowed bright, casting delightful rays upon the land below, piercing any cloud that blew over. The last bits of pink were fading on the horizon, abandoning the stars with it. The grass seemed to glow with the sun’s light.

However, the brightness of the landscape seemed almost deceitful, as there was still an unmistakable, telling cold. Luckily, the Clan wasn’t being welcomed back to their home with layers of snow upon snow. The only thing telling of the leaf-bare from sight was the small layer of frost that was upon some patches of grass.

Otherwise, the place seemed to represent a lovely spring day, without an ounce of worry or fear. And really, it might as well have been that with the ongoing situation.

At long last, just as Firepaw was admiring the scenery around him, Tallstar stopped. Peering around the crowd of cats, he could see that, although much of the camp was destroyed or torn apart, it was still there, as if it had been waiting for the Clan to come back all this time.

"WindClan, welcome home," Tallstar called.

 

\---

 

The first thing that the cats had done as soon as they arrived was work on rebuilding the camp.

Despite Firepaw’s excitement to return, he had to admit it was somewhat depressing; although there were no bloodstains or corpses left, most likely washed away from snow and rain, and he didn’t even want to know about the two corpses, the memory of the battle still burned in his mind.

The barriers of both the camp and den walls were torn apart, and there were things knocked over, nests torn up, and persistent claw marks on some of the rocks.

Most of the warriors immediately were assigned go groups to help patch these things up. Several patrols were sent out to find materials as well.

Thankfully, the apprentices were exempt from work for that moment, so Onepaw and Firepaw could finally get a good chat with the others.

“Firepaw, Onepaw, I swear to StarClan, if you don’t sit down with me, Runningpaw, and Webpaw, and explain whatever shenanigans you idiots have gotten up to, then I’ll personally drag Brokenstar into this camp and he’ll claw you two apart.”

Firepaw immediately recognized the voice. When he swung around to see his and Onepaw’s addressor, his suspicions were confirmed: Whitepaw. The small, enthusiastic molly was glaring at the two.

“Um… why are you so…” Onepaw visibly struggled to find a word, “irritable?”

“Well, you two vanish and then immediately the next day after you’re back, Tallstar is telling the whole Clan about how you got rid of Brokenstar!” she exclaimed. “I don’t care what unimportant thing you were planning to do, you are going to tell this story to your  _ friends _ and we are going to  _ talk _ .”

Firepaw, not finding himself with much of a choice, nodded and followed Whitepaw to join her with Webpaw and Runningpaw, who were already sitting and having a small chat.

Runningpaw noticed the approaching three first. “Hello, Firepaw, Onepaw, Whitepaw.” She purred, padding over so she could sit next to Whitepaw. “How have you two been?”

Whitepaw spoke before Firepaw could respond. “Oh, we all know what you’ve been up to! Come on, spit it all out! What kind of nonsense have you guys done?”

“I have to say, I am curious as well…” Webpaw admitted, looking over the two with a look of curiosity.

“Alright, alright.” Onepaw sighed, somewhat dramatically. “If you  _ insist _ . Well, our epic journey begins with Greypaw rudely waking us up in the middle of the night. We then trekked to Fourtrees, and met up with some RiverClan apprentice. We slept, and in the morning we went and joined a ThunderClan patrol. We then attacked ShadowClan with some help from some ShadowClan rebels… and then we kicked Brokenstar and his remaining buddies out, and then left.” He grinned. “And that’s basically how it went.”

Whitepaw blinked, and naturally, was the first to speak up. “Why weren’t  _ we  _ invited?”

Onepaw groaned. “Of course. No amazed ‘oos’ or ‘aas.’ Just complaining.” He shot a pointed look at Whitepaw. “I dunno! Ask Greypaw next time you see him.”

"Hey,  _ I _ thought it was a cool story," Runningpaw chimed in.

Webpaw shrugged. “Yeah… I suppose. I don’t really see the appeal of being invited, though…”

Whitepaw huffed. “You both are boring- no offense Runningpaw- but kicking out the evil ShadowClan cats sounds  _ much  _ more fun than sitting around in some sat silent fake camp.”

“So I guess full offense towards Webpaw?” Runningpaw scolded. “You already know he won’t defend himself. Don’t worry, Webpaw, she doesn’t mean it.”

“He  _ knows  _ I don’t mean it,” Whitepaw complained.

Webpaw just chuckled nervously, glancing to the side.

_ Whitepaw and Runningpaw seem to be pretty comfortable with each other.  _ Firepaw observed the two, but didn’t comment aloud.

“Why can’t we just be happy that we’re back here?” Onepaw suddenly spoke up.

The others glanced over to him, and Whitepaw giggled slightly. “Yeah… you’re right. We should go out and do something… catch rabbits… see that one spot that we went awhile ago! That rock!” 

“Well, er… me and Onepaw are actually stuck here for around half a moon,” Firepaw spoke up.

"What? How come?" asked Runningpaw.

Onepaw groaned. "Take a wild guess."

“Ooooh…” Whitepaw grinned. “Did Tallstar give you time-out?”

“Yeah, you’re right, and it’s not time-” Firepaw was quickly cut off.

“Well, come on, Webpaw, Runningpaw! Let’s leave these two here! We’re  _ home _ !”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Comments are always welcomed and encouraged!


	26. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fuck yeAH! We're done with this book!!  
> Thank you to everyone who has read this and left comments! It means a whole lot, and we love all of you- and although we have yet to receive fan content we would worship whoever does.  
> a question might be: so thats it? what now? theres so many loose ties :(((  
> FEAR NOT! We will be making a sequel! Book 2, WindClan rewrite of Fire and Ice. Stay tuned for that!  
> For now, thank you to everyone that encouraged us (eaz and gale) and we're so happy we were able to get this out and actually finish it. We love all of you!

#  EPILOGUE

 

Darkness. It shrouded the clearing, and bright stars sparkled in the sky overhead. The moonlight highlighted the flowers, water gently dripping from some of the leaves. The air was crisp and cold, the only remnants of warmth coming from the firelight inside a building nearby.

A molly looked around her familiar surroundings. It was a rather peaceful evening- quiet (save the occasional  _ vrrrr _ of a car nearby,) uninterrupted, and solemn. 

She stretched out, yawning quietly. However, as she did so, there was a sharp pain in her stomach. The molly yelped, struggling to her feet in confusion. Her head shot around, and when she didn’t locate any source of danger, she glanced at her belly.

She sat back, touching her belly with her paws before she realized.

It was unmistakable from the gentle swell close to the bottom of her belly.

_ I'm expecting kits. _

She sighed, shaking her head. She should’ve expected it. It’s not that she didn’t want children… she just didn’t know what she’d do with them. She was no mother.

_ Well, nothing I can do to change it. I just hope everything will go smoothly. _

Her thoughts ventured to when she had been a kit- it was peaceful then. She could remember her brothers and sisters, small shapes snuggled up around her, with her mother’s warm gaze looking over them with a special kind of fondness.

She had been separated from all but one of her siblings, and hadn’t seen her mother in a long while. 

_ My siblings, huh… _

Most of her siblings were long gone, some other housefolk taking them away for the rest of her life. The only one she had a regular relationship with was her brother, who had luckily been taken in by housefolk living next door. 

Her brother had been considered missing for moons now- his housefolk had desperately searched for the tom without success. His name had been on everyone’s tongue for the first few moons, but it soon fell out of the vocabulary for the house cats in that neighborhood, and everything seemed to shift back to how it was before he had vanished.

The shrill call of the molly’s housefolk suddenly pierced the air, signalling she needed to return for bed.

Her thoughts lingered on her missing brother even as she fell asleep, until her dreams took over.

 

—-

  
  


The molly soon figured out what she had to do to fulfil her curiosity- he decided to meet with one of her brother’s friends to see if  _ he  _ knew anything. The tom in question never commented on the situation, and just smiled sadly when asked if he missed his friend. But ever had he spoken about his ideas for where the missing tom had vanished to.

Maybe he would speak now that the whole situation had fallen to irrelevancy, replaced by talk of who would be sent to the cutter next, who was going on vacation soon, who was brave enough to climb the gutter of their home. No one seemed to remember him anymore.

But she did, and she wanted to know what had happened, which was why almost as soon as she woke she marched over to her brother’s friend’s house garden. 

She jumped up to the fence so she could look over to the other side. There wasn’t much happening, the herbs and flowers resting peacefully in one cornered off section, and the rest used for walking around and taking in the warmth of day- or, for this time of year, the cold of day.

However, luckily for her, the tom she was looking for was stretched out on the grass, soaking up whatever warmth he could.

“Hey!” she called, jumping down unwelcomed into the garden. “Get up! I have some questions for you.”

The tom groaned in protest, opening one eye to look at the molly. “Yeah, yeah. Go on, I guess.”

Seeing how he refused to rise to a sitting position, she scowled. “I’ll wait.”

The tom purred. “If I lay here long enough will you get bored of waiting?”

The molly narrowed her eyes, realizing he wouldn’t do what she was asking. She padded over, and bit down on his scruff, forcing him to his feet. The tom stumbled and stuck out his tongue at the molly before centering himself enough to sit down. “So? What do you have to ask?”

The molly shuffled her paws.  _ How direct do I want to be about this? _

“It’s about my brother.”

As she predicted, a sad look fell over the tom’s cheery expression. “What about him?”

“I think you know where he is,” she said slowly. “And I’m not leaving this garden till I’m convinced otherwise or you spit something out.”

“Wait, but-”

She shook her head, shooting him a venomous look. “I won’t take no for an answer. You’ve dodged this question for long enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One again, thanks to everyone!  
> Commenting is always welcomed and encouraged.


End file.
